LIBRARY OF CONGRESS. 



Shelf 



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UNITED STATES OF AMERICA. 



SOUTHV^ORTH'S 



LIFE OF 



GENERAL WINFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK, 




WITH AN INTRODUCTION BT 

Hon. THOMAS F. BAYARD. 

Embracing also ORiGiNAii Contributions from Hon. Charles Francis Adams, 

Hon. Wade Hampton, Hon. Abram S. Hewitt, Hon. Roger A. Pryor, 

Hon. David Davis, Hon. David Dudley Field, Hon. 

Algernon S. Sullivan and Hon. John Kelly. 



NEW VORK: 

AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY. 



PRICE 50 CENTS. 



LIFE 



Gen. Winfield S. Hancock, 

(WITH PORTRAIT,) 
/BT 

ALYAE" S. SOUTHWORTH, 

WITH AN INTRODUCTION BT 

HON. THOMAS F. BxVYxiRD. 

EMBRACING ALSO ORIGINAL CONTRIBUTIONS TROM 
HON. CHARLES FRANCIS ADAMS, HON. DAVID DAVIS, 

HON. WADE HAMPTON, HON. DAVID DUDLEY FIELD, 

HON. ABRAM S. HEWITT, HON. ALGERNON S. SULLIVAN, 

HON. ROGER A. PRYOR, HON. JOHN KELLY. 



AUTHORIZED EDITION. 

n" 



f^ ^"^ / ; : ^^ 



NEW YORK: Nx''"; 

THE AMERICAN NEWS COMPANY. 



H '^^ 



^B 



Copyright, 

1880, 
Br Alvan S. Southworth. 



PRESS OF J. J. LITTLE k CO., 
NOS. 10 TO 20 ASTOR PLACE, NEW YORK. 



PEEFACE. 



In preparing this biography, I have used only the 
material placed in my hands by those having authority 
from Gen. Hancock. I, of course, except those original 
contributions from distinguished Democratic and Inde- 
pendent statesmen, which form the notable feature of 
this volume. These accomplished publicists, in choice 
phrase, and with impressive and hearty cordiality, the 
better distinguish the dominant sympathies and subtler 
intellectual gifts of the Democratic candidate. 

New York, July 20, 1880. 



PEELIMINARY. 



The author lias received tlie following letter and 

contribution from tlie Hon. Tliomas F. Bayard, who in 

the National Convention was the second choice of the 

delegates to the position for which Gen. Hancock was 

nominated : 

Wilmington, Del., July 5, 1880. 

Dear Sir : I am very glad to know that a thorough 
presentation of Gen. Hancock's life and record is to be 
laid before the American people. 

The better he is known, the more, I believe, he will 
be trusted and loved. Let me draw your attention to 
an extract from a speech made by my late father, James 
A. Bayard, in 1868, at a meeting held to ratify the nom- 
ination of Seymour and Blair. There was no man in 
America who comprehended and valued civil liberty, 
or that kind of statesmanship which creates and pre- 
serves it, better than Mr. Bayard, and no indorsement 
could be more impressive than his. 

Yours truly, 

Thomas F. Bayard. 



6 PRELIMINARY. 

Tlie following were the words of the late James A. 
Bayard : 

My own preference was for Gen. Hancock, who was 
not only a great and gallant soldier, but he was endowed 
Avith the views of a statesman and patriot. His course 
in New Orleans was precisely that which a wise and sa- 
gacious civilian would have pursued, and his corre- 
spondence, and especially his letter in reply to Gover- 
nor Pease, of Texas, was a document that would do 
credit to the ablest of statesmen. I do not believe that 
there are ten lawyers in the United States who could 
have written that letter, or one superior to it. It was 
for these qualities, and his firmly-expressed views that 
the military should be in all times of peace subordinate 
to the civil power, that I believed him to be the man 
of all those that had been named best calculated to 
secure the suffrages of the people, and to be the stan- 
dard-bearer of the great American Democracy. 



INTRODUCTION 



BY 



HON. THOMAS F. BAYARD, 

U. S. Senator from Dela^vare. 



Why have the delegates of tlie Democratic 
party nominated Gen. Hancock for the Presidency ? 
He has never held a civil office ; true. He has a 
military record as brilliant, as glorious as that of 
any man in America. Why have the Democrats 
nominated him, a military man ? It is because this 
man has proved that God gave him the same char- 
acteristics of conscience, of self-control, which he 
gave to the good and great Washington. And 
this is not an excited utterance in the heat of a 
political campaign. It is the deliberate statement 
of a man striving: to see the rig^ht and to follow it. 
Since the world was, no influence has ever proved 

7 



8 INTRODUCTIOIS'. 

SO dangerous and corrupting to men's hearts as the 
love of power. What were governments called 
" free governments " designed for ? They were to 
protect the weak against the strong, to protect the 
minority against the majority ; they were intended 
to put checks upon power. And the great diffi- 
culty has been, and the dangers to liberty have 
arisen from this fact — that whenever men have been 
intrusted with great power for protecting other 
people, they have been too apt to use it to per- 
petuate their own sway, and to become, therefore, 
tyrants and not limited governors. There is the 
largeness of the human heart which has made the 
name of Washington so cons2:)icuous that, when 
power was in his hands, when he swayed the votes 
and controlled the hearts of his fellow country- 
men, he laid down that power at the end of his 
term, and retired to the privacy of his home. It 
was that which made him conspicuous among great 
men and rulers. Soldiers great as he are many in 
history ; civil rulers gi'eat as lie are also many in 
history; but how many are there in history who, 
intrusted with vast power, voluntarily and willing- 
ly laid it down and stepped back into the ranks of 
private life when power could have been held and 



II^TEODUCTIOIS^. 9. 

used ? Sucli is the keynote to the nomination of 
Gen. Hancock before the people. He has had 
power, and great power ; he has been a military 
governor over States of the Union, over large por- 
tions of his fellow countrymen, whei'e his will 
could have been made their law — ^vhere, at his 
pleasure, the liberty of every man was in peril— 
and what was his course ? What was his course 
alone of the military governors we have seen in 
this country for the last fifteen years ? When he 
was asked in Louisiana or Texas to arrest men, he 
demanded, "Where is the judicial process ?" When 
he was implored to try men by military commis- 
sion, he pointed to the court-house with its judge 
and jury-box. When he was asked to confine 
men, to take from them their property or liberty, 
he asked, " Where is the law for this ? " Who also, 
among the military governors of this country — and 
there have l)een among them soldiers distinguished 
in the field, perhaps as bold and courageous as he, 
and that is saying a great deal — has refused to 
exercise, within the past fifteen years, arbitrary 
power when he had it in his hands? And this 
course he followed while the party in j^ower were 
centralizing the Federal Government because they 



10 INTEODUCTION^. 

controlled. Why was it ? We are all citizens of 
a State and of the United States ; and why was 
it, after an experience of a hundred years, we 
could not be trusted to conduct our own elections ? 
If you ]M\t men in the Federal jury-box, or in the 
jury-box at tlie State court-house, are they not the 
same citizens? What can it be, then, that will 
make a man a better judge because he holds the 
title of a Federal office? I only mention this to 
show one of the means by which this party has 
sought to retain itself in power. But back of that 
always there was shown the hand of military 
power, to enforce, if necessary, and advance Ee- 
publican success. 

In 1876- we came to the polls, and very nearly 
300,000 votes more were cast for the Democratic 
nominees than for those of the Republican party. 
There was not only a popular majority at the 
polls, but there was a majority of some 30 votes 
in the electoral colleo-e. What was done ? The 
cabinet at Washington, controlled by the military 
spirit of a merely military man — a man who never 
laid down power willingly, who never j)ut power 
away from him when he could exercise it — sent 
troops of the United States, under the suggestion 



INTRODUCTIOI^. 11 

of his Secretary of the Interior, who was also 
Chairman of the Republican National Committee, 
the late Mr. Chandler of Michigan; and he had 
his willing aid in Mr. Cameron of Pennsylvania, 
his Secretary of War; and at their bidding the 
armed forces of the United States, without any 
protest upon the part of any man in charge of 
them — without any j)rotest from any quarter 
among the officers commanding, but with all the 
ready alacrity of General Shei'man, with the com- 
plete concurrence of the officers in the Southern 
States, they sent troops to Columbia in South 
Carolina, to Tallahassee in Florida, and to New 
Orleans in Louisiana. And for what purpose? 
To protect these boards of canvassing officers in 
a deliberate perversion of the results of a popular 
election. It was done, and the returnincr boards 
at New Orleans, and at Tallahassee, and at Co- 
lumbia, usurping powers that did not belong to 
them, overthrew majorities, turned them into 
minorities, made false returns, and thus electoral 
votes were claimed to be counted. It is a fearful 
thing for men to live under a government they do 
not respect; it is a vain thing to hope that.repub- 
lican institutions shall continue unless the people 



12 INTKODUCTION. 

respect themselves. The Democratic party looked 
on, and saw that by a combination of fraud and 
force the result of the election all over the country 
was changed by the conduct of the administration 
at Washington which I have desciibed — changed 
by military threats sustaining fraud. 

All this we propose to end, and we propose to 
end it by placing in power a man who, although 
a distinguished soldier, never forgot that his 
citizenship was a higher title. It is the logic, 
the inevitable logic of the election of Winlield 
Scott Hancock, that the civil shall be supreme 
above the military 2:)ower ; that sectionalism shall 
not be allowed as a party cry; that what is called 
and known as the " bloody shirt," shall be folded up 
forever, and that the American people shall be 
brought together as one people under one govern- 
ment, and with equal rights and affection for it. 
That is the result of this man's election. These are 
the logical results to follow, and he has proved it. 

I do not mean that there are not many who 
love liberty as well as he. I do not mean 
that there are not many who may know more 
of the details and complications of civil gov- 
ernment ; but I do say there are none who have 



INTRODUCTION. 13 

been so tried, and have proved that they possess 
that elevated, that lofty self-control which induces 
them to lay down power at the command of con- 
science. That is why I maintain that all over 
this land he should, be sustained; and when 
Kepublicans ask, " How can it be that you, who 
have always talked against military candidates, 
have yet taken a man who is nothing but a military 
man ? " — you may answer that " We do not take 
him because he is a military man ; we admire 
his courage, honor him for his gallantry, love 
him for his patriotism, and admire his honesty. 
But he is something more than that : he is not 
only a soldier, but he is a man of the highest 
personal character and intelligence ; he is a citizen 
imbued with the knowledge of what citizenship 
means ; he is a citizen under a government of laws, 
and he is a believer in the profound maxim that 
the civil should always be superior to the military 
power. That is the reason wh}^ we have chosen 
him, and chosen him at this time. And if the 
war for the Union is to be a success — and God 
grant it may be — loliat hetter illustration of the 
success of the war could any one ash than to find a 
man who led the hosts of the Union receiving the 



14 INTEODUCTION. 

vote of every man who dreio a sioord against it ? 
laTk of your victories ! What victory is like that 
— the victory that can turn a foe into a friend^ can 
hring hack the citizen to his allegiance f If that 
he not the fruits of statesmanship^ pray tell me 
what it is f 

Wilmington, Delaware, July, 1880. 



LIFE OF 

GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 



CHAPTER I. 



" To know well the local and natural man ; to track the silent march of hitman affairs ; 
to seize with happy intuition on those great laws which regulate the prosperity of 
empires; toreconcilein'inciples to circumstances, and be no wiser than the times will 
permit, is a task which they will fear most w/io know it best.''' 



HANCOCK TO-DAY HIS BIRTH AND BOYHOOD. 

The man, the story of whose life is told in these 
pages, has now reached an eminence rendering him 
one of the most conspicuous figures in Christendom. 
However fascinating it might be to speculate on 
the career before him — a career which, if the tem- 
per and appreciation of his countrymen remain un- 
changed, will by the popular mandate make him 
the twentieth President of the United States — 
there is still in the fifty-six years of his life a great 
and noble existence devoted to the public service, 

15 



16 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

from which no just pen can fairly detract, and 
which no sober mind can honorably ignore. 

Forty years wearing the uniform of the nation, 
taught in its historic academy the profession of 
arms, bearing its flag triumphantly against foreign 
and domestic foes, his giant figure standing upon 
a low Pennsylvania mound upon the birth- 
day of American Independence, and there shatter- 
ing by a masterly blow the legions of the victori- 
ous invader; and afterward, when the arms were 
stacked, and a helpless and bleeding section of the 
country lay piteously pleading for reconciliation, 
pronouncing the restoration of civil rights, the fra- 
ternity between Americans no longer at war — 
the Constitution before the bayonet — who shall 
say that there is not in this life, the life of 
this brave soldier, of this accomplished officer, of 
this wise and pi'udent statesman, this loyal, gentle, 
and catholic nature, a lesson apart from that we 
di'aw from the leading careers of Our Time ? 

Coming now to an ultimate promotion, and one 
not made by party machinery or shrewd political 
device, he is brought forward by a broad national 
sentiment, and presented upon the merits of his 
natural gifts and varied acquisitions for the chief 



ge:n^. winfield s. hancock. 17 

magistracy. This, if one would divine the popular 
instinct wliich commanded his nomination, simply 
presents a figure to mankind that embodies the best 
thoughts and aspirations of the American people. 
Significant is it, too, that in this year 1880 he 
appears as a central and positive personality in a 
world-wide question, entering into all the policies 
of the nations of Euroj^e — that the statute should 
prevail before the cartridge, the law before the 
military edict. That the history of such a man, 
should he be elevated to the Presidency, would 
not have a salutary infiuence upon the progress of 
those peoples struggling for liberal forms of gov- 
ernment in the Old World, is left in no manner of 
doubt, for it was even Napoleon himself who 
paused amid his victories to note the death of 
Washington, and praise his services to liberty in 
an impassioned proclamation to his soldiers ; and 
should this man be called to the head of the 
nation, pursuing his ever upward and onward 
course, who shall say that now, when the sceptre 
of power is departing from the hands of the time- 
worn monarchs and old- school statesmen across 
the sea, that America may not offer to the world, 
in the person of her next President, a vigorous 



18 GEIN". WINFIELB S. HAIS'COCK. 

embodiment of all that is great, and grand, and 
good in a free constitutional republic as under- 
stood in the Western Hemisphere. 

Winfield Scott Hancock was born on the 14th 
of February, 1824, at Norristown, Pa. Both on 
his maternal and paternal side he comes from Eev- 
olutionary ancestry, and the name of Hancock in 
the historic annals of Pennsylvania was already 
proudly honored before the Democratic candidate 
was born. His paternal grandfather, who fought 
gallantly foi* the liberation of the colonies from 
the mother country, was, during the long war of 
the Revolution, one of the bravest defenders of the 
colonial confederacy until, having 1jeen captured at 
sea and claimed as a British subject, he was im- 
prisoned in the Dartmoor dungeon in England. 
His maternal grandfather and great grandfather 
served in the Revolutionary armies, the latter en- 
listing when but fifteen years of age. The elder 
went through the wasting camjiaigns of that war, 
and subsequently died from exposure and hardship 
in the field. 

General Hancock's father proudly kept up the 
records of his ancestors. He too was a soldier, a 
soldier in the war of 1812, and when hostilities 



GEK. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 19 

ceased with Great Britain lie became a lawyer of 
prominence in Pennsylvania. When there he lived 
honored and respected, watching the upward career 
of his son, until he died, ripe with years and honors, 
after the close of the war. He was a man of fine 
and distinguished bearing, of conservative inclina- 
tions, and was widely respected in the vicinity in 
which he lived. 

The family of Gen. Hancock resided at Norris- 
town during his boyhood, and ifc would seem from 
his baptismal name, Winfield Scott, that the idea 
of a military career was in the minds of his pa- 
rents when he was yet in the cradle. Carefully 
nurtured in his early life, his youthful education 
was received at Norristown. * He was ever a stu- 
dious boy, and with his large frame and manly 
bearing, easily won the respect and admiration of 
his comrades. He soon became a leader among his 
sfliool-fellows, and very early developed a taste for 
public affairs. It is recorded of him that when he 
was but fifteen years of age he was called upon to 
read the Declaration of Independence at a public 
celebration of the national aniversary, a distinction 
that was offered to him, not simply because of his 
illustrious descent, but because he possessed not 



20 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

only fine oratorical powers, but a winsome manner 
and magnetic presence. Thus, at sixteen years of 
age, already well taught in the elementary branches, 
he received an appointment to West Point on 
July 1, 1840. Gen. Winfield Scott was present at 
the academy and participated in the examination 
of his namesake, to whom he dryly remarked that 
" most of his namesakes turned out scamps." 

The first member of his class in academic honors 
was William G. Peck, now professor of mathemat- 
ics in Columbia College, N. Y., and among the 
other members were Generals Alfred Pleasanton, 

D. M. Frost, and Simon B. Buckner. Contempo- 
rary with him at West Point were, in the class of 
1841, Generals Z. B. Tower, Horatio G. Wright, A.W. 
Whipple, T. J. Rodman, Albion P. Howe, Nathan- 
iel Lyon, J. B. Plummer, John M. Brannan, Schuy- 
ler Hamilton, James Totten, John F. Reynolds, R. 
B. Garnett, Don Carlos Buell, Alfred Sully, and I. 
B. Richardson ; in the class of 1842, Generals 
Henry L. Eustis, John Newton, W. S. Rosecrans, 
B. S. Alexander, C. W. Smith, Mansfield Lovell, 

E. G. Beckwith, John Pope, C. L. Kilburn, Seth 
Williams, Abner Doubleday, N. J. T. Dana, R. W. 
Kirkham, George Sykes, Lafayette McLaws, S. B. 



GTEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 21 

Hayman, Earl Van Dorn, and James Longstreet ; 
in the class of 1843, Generals W. B. Franklin, W. 
F. Raynokls, Isaac F. Quinby, J. J. Peck, J. J. Rey- 
nolds, J. A. Hardie, H. F. Clarke, C. C. Angur, 
Ulysses S. Grant, J. H. Potter, C. S. Hamilton, 
Frederic Steele, Euf us Ingalls, F. T. Dent, Jolin C. 
McFerran, and H. M. Judali ; in the class of 1845, 
Generals W. F. Smith, T. J. Wood, C. P . Stone, 
Fitz John Porter, John P. Hatch, J. W. Davidson, 
D. B. Sacket, Barnard E. Bee, Gordon Granger, 
H. B. Glitz, D. A. Russell, and Thomas G. Pitcher; 
and in the class of 1846, Generals George B. Mc- 
Clellan, John G. Foster, J. L. Reno, D. N. Couch, 
" Stonewall " Jackson, Truman Seymour, M. D. L. 
Simpson, S. D. Sturgis, George Stoneman, James 
Oakes, D. H. Maury, I. K Palmer, Alfred Gibbs, 
George H. Gordon,, Frederic Myers, J. N. G.Whist- 
ler, C. M. Wilcox, S. B. Maxey, and George E. 
Pickett. From this long roll of his West Point 
contemporaries who attained the rank of General 
during the late war, it is obvious that General 
Hancock's career at this institution was, at a criti- 
cal period, when he was brought into contact with 
a large proportion of the future leaders upon both 
sides of the civil war. 



CHAPTER II. 

MILITAEY INSTEUCTION DESCRIBED. ITS mFLUENCE 
ON A MIT^D LIKE HANCOCK's. 

Since the nomination of Gen. Hancock by the 
Democratic National Convention sittino; at Cincin- 
nati, the main effort of the opj)osition press, and 
the Republican campaign orators, has been to im- 
press public opinion with the idea that Gen. Han- 
cock's military education and subsequent services 
in the field, however patriotic and indispensable, 
unfit him entirely for the chief executive office of 
the civil government. To combat such a proposi- 
tion requires no specious nor wordy argument, and 
especially will this be true to those who have ex- 
amined the relative systems of civil and military 
instruction in the United States. Those who have 
been educated at our far-famed colleges in every 
quarter of the Union, now fill nearly every im- 
portant station under the National Government. 
Graduates of West Point, however, are seldom 

23 



QEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 23 

found, save in the line of their profession, since 
Gen. Grant closed his second term of office. 

It is for the purpose of meeting some of the 
sophisms and wild misstatements of the purely ci- 
vilian journalist, when he discourses with savage 
indignation about the necessity of abolishing West 
Point and the Naval Academy, because they incul. 
cate an alleged vicious system of instruction, that 
it is well to inquire, " Can a soldier be a states- 
man ? " — which by no means implies that a states- 
, man can be a soldier. The thick film of ignorance 
clouding the eye of the political rhapsodist who 
has undertaken, with a few flourishes of his pen, 
to demolish the administi'ative capacity of Gen. 
Hancock, justifies more than a passing notice of 
the training under wdiich Gen. Hancock went from 
his boyhood, until he became the Senior Major- 
General of the U. S. Army. 

Gen. Hancock was sixteen years of age, and 
T)elonged to a family of influence and wealth 
in his Congressional district, as must ahuost 
always be the case with any cadet sent to either of 
the national academies. Take him as the typical 
boy there, and a typical boy, in addition to these 
advantages, has the military or marine ardor strong 



24 GEX. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

within him ; or, as is often the case, he proves a 
household nuisance, or the town devil, oi* the most 
promising youth intellectually within the county 
precincts ; so he is provided with an appointment 
to West Point. 

The conditions of entrance are simple. He must 
be sound physically ; he must know the ordinary 
rules of grammar ; he able to write a descriptive 
letter; know the North Pole from the Equator, 
and be familiar with elementaiy arithmetic. These 
requirements satisfied, the system of education 
teaches him that he is a man and a gentleman. 
From the hour that his development takes the 
direction intended, a vital change is wrought in 
him. No boy thus launched on a severe course of 
study, and mental and physical discipline, can 
remain in that school if he be transparently stupid 
or inherently bad. 

The process of weeding out is rigid and unre- 
lenting. The body of classmates, therefore, as 
they advance year by year, are relieved of worth- 
less associates, and the academy traditions unite 
them firmly and guide them by an honorable and 
resolute spirit. The worst crime in the eyes of one 
of these youths is to lie ; the worst insult is to be 



GE1N-. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 25 

accused of lying. To say that one is no gentleman 
costs a pair of black eyes or a bleeding nose, and 
to use the foul epithet which has become almost a 
street cry of New York makes a bad case for the 
hospital. 

Thus a strong and pugnacious military spirit is 
maturing as the cadet grows intellectually to man- 
hood. During this period his social graces are 
being cultivated. The ladies about the post, per- 
haps with an eye to future matrimony, soften the 
natures of these young embryo officers, who come 
from every quarter of the Union, representing all 
types and shades of culture, and having a parent- 
age in every walk in life. Washington and the 
leading cities of the Atlantic seaboard pour in a 
steady stream of their fairest belles, and supply 
this historic spot with heiresses infatuated with 
brass buttons. 

Nor must it be supposed that the cadets are 
deprived of social intercourse with the officers who 
command, train, and instruct them. When relieved 
from the restraints of discipline, which preclude 
all familiarity, they mingle in easy geniality with 
men of mature and well-instructed minds. Unless 
a nature be thoroughly depraved, unless it be lost 



26 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

to all example and devoid of delicate susceptibili- 
ty and elevated tendencies, it will become iron- 
wroiio^lit in matters of honor to comrades and 
adhesion to duty under a complex course of teach- 
ing and association like this. 

History teaches that the two national academies, 
that of the army and that of the navy, produce as 
fine gentlemen as can be bred under Democratic 
institutions. A breach of trust, a lapse from honor 
and decent behavior, are rare. Nor is the intel- 
lectual training less thoi'ough, less permeating, and 
less exhaustive. 

While it is true that, in the colleges of civil life, 
the higher branches of moral philosophy, the clas- 
sics, and the varied specialties, the chairs are now 
held by eminent men in their several departments 
of learning, it is yet certain that in the sum of 
knowledge taught at West Point more is fixed on 
the mind of the pupil and remains there than can 
be possible by mere voluntary instruction. 

The task is involuntary. It begins with the 
cadet's entrance to the institution, and concludes 
only with his graduation, and the knowledge there 
acquired he is compelled to use daily thereafter 
through life. It may be said that this is purely 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 27 

military teaching, but an examination will show 
that such is not the case. One of the earliest 
offices of the cadet is to control men. That duty 
he learns, and it becomes a part of his nature while 
he is yet ungrown to manhood. The positions 
which he holds from year to year until he assumes 
rank in the army, while miniature perhaps in their 
scope, are purely executive in their bearing. 

He is taught the lesson of detail, of punctuality, 
of obedience, of command, of respect for written 
authority, of fidelity to the oath which makes him 
an officer of the United States. 

Thus each cadet, when he graduates from the 
Academy, goes out among civil surroundings, pos- 
sessing a marked personality in himself. Thus 
the idea of duty, conscience, and individual honor is 
distinct, inflexible, and on the highest plane. Un- 
less he be of an elastic nature, and gradually melt 
back into the body politic from which he came, 
no one in civil life can fail to detect this marked 
individualism. It is present in the manner, in the 
personal bearing, and in every word and action. 
He is a man re-made from the best material that 
can be gathered from the various sources of hu- 
man discipline and instruction. 



28 GEN. WINFIELD S. HAT^COCK. 

While it is true that a character thus completed 
in the National Academy may be easily changed 
and easily made destructible, few can become 
neo;ative or mediocre men. 

It is perhaps the individualism already describ- 
ed, and the independence of character which is 
self-conscious in a man thus bred, that has made 
the average West Point graduate obnoxious to a 
large and honest, and yet a very narrow sentiment 
of the people ; and it is undeniable, especially in 
the Democratic i^arty, that there has ever been a 
profound feeling against military candidates for 
the higher offices under the Government ; and yet, 
with a man like Hancock, a product of this sys- 
tem of instruction — the boy who at fifteen publicly 
read the Declaration of Independence ; who twenty 
years subsequently aroused the Pacific slope by 
eloquent appeals to come forward to the rescue of 
the Union ; who in 1864 made a speech in Tammany 
Hall unmatched even by the rhetoric of such a 
renowned orator as Thomas Francis Meagher, speak- 
ing on the same occasion ; and who, as a military 
Governor in the South, regulating the civil con- 
cerns of millions of peoj^le, produced finished 
papers, that remained the wonder and admiration 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 29 

of the jurists of tlie Time after a lapse of thirteen 
years, and are quoted as among the best expressed 
axioms of civil liberty — no one can complain that a 
clear and closely chiseled system of military edu- 
cation, strengthened, enforced, and crystalized by 
brilliant service in the field, is not almost in- 
dispensable in Our Time to a thorough prac- 
tice and acquisition of the highest order of states- 
manship. Indeed, so true has this been in the 
Old World, with the leading minds who have 
sha23ed the present political condition of Euro]3e, 
Bismarck and Thiers, that the one has always 
worn his uniform, the uniform of his youth, Avhile 
the other devoted his pen and constructive genius 
to the spread of military systems upon which he 
spent the best years of his life. It was Thiers 
who built the fortifications around Paris, that 
enabled an army of mechanics to Avithstand, for 
five months, a siege carried on by the finest army 
ever gathered on European soil since the Caesars 
ruled in Rome. 



CHAPTER III 

LIFE AT WEST POINT. SERVICE m THE MEXICAN WAR. 
MRS. HANCOCK. 

Young Hancock, as a cadet at West Point, almost 
immediately after passing the preliminary exami- 
nation, began to show that aptitude for military 
service which he doubtless inherited from his an- 
cestors. He proved an excellent scholar, a bright, 
cheerful. Jovial companion, wedding himself at 
once with an instinctive liking to the more literary 
and esthetic branches of the institution. 

The first year at the Military Academy is proba- 
tionary rather than otherwise. If a student sur- 
mount all the physical difficulties in the way of 
progress, if he master the rudimentary branches 
in this initial year, if he show a proper restraint 
and a wholesome obedience to the rules and regu- 
lations in force, if his roll of demerits come 
below the maximum, if he preserve an untarnished 
reputation for truth and sobriety, if he develop no 

30 



I 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 31 

evil ways nor tendencies — if, in short, lie prove that 
he has within him the making of an officer — the 
first year of his course has determined his future 
in the institution and in the Army. 

Generally speaking, it is during this first year of 
the course that undesirable candidates for mil- 
itary life are weeded out and sent home whence 
they came. It is therefore a trying year for the 
young cadet, especially as, at least in theory, there 
is no favoritism shown on account of lineaore, fam- 
ily influence, or political j^jower. The aspirant for 
an appointment to West Point should remember 
this, for the highway to fame through the corridors 
of this institution is now j^aved with brilliant 
reputations which might have been wrecked in 
the first year of their academic course by a stray 
action, a false word, or a lack of attention to study. 

Cadet Hancock proved of the proper material. 
His strongly-knit, tall, commanding, and handsome 
figure was developing into manhood. His atten- 
tion was divided between his studies in the bar- 
racks and the evolutions in the field. With such 
companions as McClellan, Burnside, Franklin, 
" Baldy Smith," Longstreet, and " Stonewall " 
Jackson, and that close application, thorough at- 



32 GET^r. WIirriELD S. HAIS^COCK. 

tention to details, and unremitting industry in the 
pursuit of knowledge, which, added to his iine de- 
scent from Revolutionary ancestry and military 
bearing, could not otherwise than make him a 
marked figure in this now historic group. From 
year to year, he passed through all the grades of 
military instruction, graduating the eighteenth in 
a class of twenty-five on the 30th of June, 1844, 
receivinsr the commission of brevet Second Lieu- 
tenant of the Sixth Infantry. 

From the very day that he entered the Academy 
until he left it, and through the forty subsequent 
years of his life in the military service, he never 
sought for what has been the instinctive desire of 
a large class of military graduates — a career in the 
business woi'ld — })ut ardently attached to his pro- 
fession, he joined his regiment in the Indian Terri- 
tory, then a wild region beyond the Mississippi, 
almost totally unexplored ; for in that day no path- 
finder had passed onward to the Pacific and left 
his foot-2:)rints across the continent. Early life on 
that distant frontier was calculated to touo^hen 
and harden even a constitution already inured to 
the severest physical trials; but it is not to be sup- 
posed that in the academic course of four year at 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 33 

West Point the youth is not called upon to spend 
daily a very large portion of his time in drill — cav- 
alry, artillery, and other exercises — which assists him 
to the fullest physical development. Continuing 
to serve in the Sixth Infantry for nearly three 
years on frontier duty at Forts Towson and 
Washita, he received his full commission of second 
lieutenant, June 18, 1846. Early in 1847 he was 
detailed upon recruiting service for the Mexican 
War, and accompanied the army which landed at 
Vera Cruz, March 9, 1847, under command of his 
namesake, Gen. Winfield Scott. This brilliant 
young officer was then engaged in skirmishes in 
the defense of the convoy at the National Bridge 
near Jalapa, August 12th, and at Plan del Rio, 
August 15th, but encountering his first serious fight- 
ing ^ve days later at the twin battles of Contreras 
and Cherubusco, both of which occurred the same 
day, August 20th. 

In those fierce engagements Hancock won his 
brevet as First Lieutenant for " o-allant and meri- 
torious conduct." Shortly afterward he was made 
Adjutant of his battalion, and in that capacity par- 
ticipated in the severe battle of Molino del Rey, 
September 8th, and the capture of the City of 



34 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANOOCK. 

Mexico, Sept. 14, 1847. This was the great mili- 
tary event of that war, and, like Grant and others 
who brought distinguished services as their claims 
for commissions in the volunteer army at the out- 
break of the Rebellion, he proved himself a coura- 
geous officer under fire, skillful in handling men, 
quick to perceive a military advantage, and daunt- 
liess in the face of the enemy. Upon his return to 
the United States, early in 1848, Lieut. Hancock 
was assigned to duty in the Quartermaster's De- 
partment, in which he remained until the breaking 
out of the civil war. At various times he was 
stationed at Jefferson Barracks, Missouri ; then at 
Fort Crawford, Iowa, 1848-49; at St. Louis, 1849- 
51, and again at Jefferson Barracks, 1851-55. 
Promotion was not rapid in those days. The army 
was small ; the chronic fit of economy which in 
times of peace keeps the military establishment 
down to ebb tide, prevented anything like obtain- 
ing advanced rank at a youthful age. He did not 
obtain his full Lieutenancy until January 27, 1853, 
althouo;h breveted First Lieutenant on the field of 
Cherubusco. He was made a staff* cajitain Nov. 
7, 1855, being then assistant Adjutant-General of 
the Department of the West. He lived a quiet 



GEI^. WIlSrriELT) S. IIAIS^COCK. 35 

life, taking an interest in public affairs, and it was 
only interrupted when lie was stationed at Fort 
Myers, in Florida, 1856-57, when lie was called to 
act aoralnst the Seminole Indians. He also had 
occasion to come in contact with jDolItlcal excite- 
ment in the always turbulent canvass at Fort 
Leavenworth, where he was engaged in suppressing 
the disturbances which grew out of border ruffian- 
ism, from 1857 to 1858. He then accompanied the 
expedition to Utah, in 1858, marching thence to 
California late in that year, there becoming chief 
quartermaster of the Southern District of Califor- 
nia, from May 5, 1859, to Aug. 8, 1861. 

While on duty at his post in St. Louis, his mar- 
riasre to Miss Almira Russell, the beautiful and 
accomplished daughter of a prominent merchant of 
St. Louis, took place in 1850. Mrs. Hancock was 
then, as she is now, a woman of rare personal at- 
tractions, of medium height, regular and aristocratic 
features, Ijlonde hair, limpid blue eyes, and well- 
rounded figure. Gifted with an easy, happy, and 
fasclnatino: manner, she has lono; been an acknowl- 
edofed favorite in all the circles in which she has 
moved. No lady since the days of the famous Dolly 
Madison exemplifies so well the type of the early 



36 GEN-. WINFIELD S. HAITCOCK. 

queens of American society. Familiar, as she long 
has been, with public men, in jDublic life, and thrown 
in contact with all the chief statesmen, soldiers, and 
diplomatists from the Old World, who are found in 
the society of the metropolis and the capital at 
Washington, she yet j^reserves a modest, winsome, 
and easy manner that was so characteristic of Miss 
Harriet Lane during the administration of Presi- 
dent Buchanan. It mav be said that Mrs. Hancock 
in a large degree, and at first view to the visitor, 
reminds one instinctively of Martha Washington. 
Added to her other attractions is her fine capacity 
for entertainment, and no more chai'ming and ac- 
complished hostess is to be found in the two hem- 
ispheres. At their house at Governor's Island, a 
simple but generous hospitality has long been 
known and enjoyed by that circle of appreciative 
friends and guests, who have since the close of the 
war been foremost in urging Gen. Hancock as the 
proper nominee for the Presidency. They have 
had two children — Miss Ada Elizabeth, deceased 
-^ve years, having died at the Stevens building in 
New York, in 1875, after a brief illness of malaria. 
The loss of this lovely daughter has proved a 
severe blow to the family, and especially to Mrs. 



GElSr. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 37 

Hancock, by whom slie was more than idolized. 
Her portrait liangs in the large drawing-room of 
the General's residence at Governor's Island, and 
was executed by Mr. B. F. Reinhart, the celebrated 
artist. It reveals a lovely girl of nineteen years 
of age, fine, soft, intellectual face, large, azure eyes, 
sensitive mouth, with an expression of touching sad- 
ness. The son, Mr. Russell Hancock, is a gentle- 
man of fine physique, and has followed the occu- 
pation of a planter, now cultivating his broad acres 
in Mississippi. As these pages are going through 
the press, he, in common with his family and 
parents, are called upon to mourn the loss of his 
infant son, and inheritor of the name of Winfield 
Scott Hancock — deceased at the age of five months. 



CHAPTER IV. 

THE CIVIL WAR. WILLIAMSBURa. 

The outbreak of tlie Rebellion found Captain 
Hanc^oek in this somewhat obscure position of 
quartermaster at Los Angeles, Cal., and while his 
contemporary officers in the Eastern States had an 
early taste of military risks and rewards, it was 
not until August that he was ordered to report in 
person to the Quartermaster-General at Washing- 
ton. He was at once assigned to duty as Chief 
Quartermaster of the Army of Kentucky. It was 
not, however, in such a capacity that laurels were 
to be won, and Captain Hancock doubtless re- 
sorted to the usual methods of furthering his de- 
sire for an opportunity of active service in the iield. 

Captain Winfield S. Hancock was commissioned 
by President Lincoln a brigadier-general of volun- 
teers, September 23, 1861, and given command of 
the first brigade of Gen. "Baldy" Smith's division 
of the Army of the Potomac. 



GE]^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 39 

The material of Lis fii*st general command was 
of the very best. It consisted of four splendid 
reiriments — one from New York, one from Penn- 
sylvania, one from the backwoods of Maine, and one 
from Wisconsin. These regiments were well-offi- 
cered and well-drilled. Under the tuition of 
Hancock they soon acquired the esiyrit du corps and 
steadiness of the best troops, and long before they 
had been seriously engaged it was plainly to be 
seen that they could be depended upon in almost 
any emergency. It was the kind of material with 
which to assist a nolde cause, or to found a 
splendid fame. Hancock probably thought little 
of what these regiments were to do for him. His 
sole aim was to make them effective in the service 
of his country. In doing this he was fashioning 
an instrument which should make his own name 
immortal. In the latter part of March, 1862, the 
Army of the Potomac was moved to Fortress 
Monroe, and the campaign on the Peninsula, which 
should commence at Yorktown and end with the 
terrible seven days' conflict before Richmond, was 
inauo^urated. Smith's division, as soon as it landed 
at Hampton, was sent to the left, and led the ad- 
vance on the Yorktown lines on the James River 



40 GEN. WINFIELD S. HAKOOCK. 

road. It struck tlie enemy a short distance beyond 
Warwick Court-House. Here, on the 5th, 6th, and 
7th of April, there was heavy skirmishing with 
infantry and artillery. The enemy occupied a 
strongly intrenched line protected by a stream, 
and no impression was made upon it. The army 
was feeling its way into position in the woods and 
swamps. Hancock's brigade on this occasion was 
conspicuous, it having been dispatched to the right, 
making a reconnoissance in force, and developing 
the enemy's lines in a direction where the Union 
line was not as yet complete. During the night 
of the 7th Smith's division moved still further to 
the right, striking the enemy at Lee's Mills. This 
point was believed to be vulnerable to an assault, 
and, under the direction of Gen. McClellan, on 
the 16th, the attempt was made, the line across the 
Peninsula havinof then been made continuous. 
This was after a heavy artillery fire at short 
range, but the obstacles w^ere too great and the 
enemy's position too strong to be forced. In 
this engagement, although the Vermont troops had 
the place of honor and of the greatest loss. Gen. 
Hancock and his command were conspicuous. 
From this time until the evacuation of the York- 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HA:N^C0CK. 41 

town lines on the niglit of the 3d of May, Gen. 
Hancock's brigade, in common with the rest of the 
division, was constantly on duty in the trenches or 
skirmishing with the enemy's pickets. On the 
morning of the 4th of May, after a heavy cannonade 
during most of the night, the works of the Con- 
federates were discovered to be abandoned. The 
discovery was made almost simultaneously along 
the entire Union line from the York to the James, 
and with the first light there began a race on every 
road leading toward Richmond, and great was the 
strife to see who should first come up with the re- 
treating foe. At Williamsburg, the Confederates 
had constructed another fortified line reachinc^ 
from the York River nearly to the James, and run- 
ning parallel to that which they had Just aban- 
doned. It consisted of a series of redoubts, mostly 
built along and behind the stream which, running 
through a deep ravine for some distance, empties 
into the York. The center defense was a power- 
ful fort near Williamsburg, mounting heavy guns. 
Here the enemy made his stand, and by these 
works the Union Army, in such order as was pos- 
sible from the nature of the pursuit, found itself 
on the evening of the 4th of May effectually 



42 GEIS". WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

stopped. There was rain, mud, infinite discomfort, 
apparent confusion, unquestionably no head to the 
movements of the troops, and, as darkness settled 
down over the bivouacking army, there was any- 
thing but a bright prospect for success. With the 
dawn of the 5th, however, matters began to assume 
shape, and the divisions assumed their positions. 
Hooker made his famous bloody and ineifectual 
struggle in the fallen timbers before Fort Ma- 
gruder. It was a gallant effort persistently made, 
and while reflecting honor on the division, resulted 
in nothing but heavy loss. Early in the forenoon 
Gen. Hancock obtained permission to reconnoiter 
the enemj^'s left. With two light batteries and 
two additional regiments, he moved for a mile or 
more to tlie right of our line, carefully feeling the 
enemy's sti'ength. Presently he came upon an 
opening in the woods, and before him was a deep 
ravine, a dam aci'oss it, and on the oj)posite bluff a 
rebel fortification, the continuation of the rebel 
left. A glance showed the commander that the 
fort was not strongly manned, and by a rapid 
movement might be forced. This was quickly 
done. The troops poured across the dam, climbed 
the bluff, and drove the enemy out of the redoubt. 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 43 

A road was hastly improvised up the bluff, tlie 
artillery was dragged across the dam, aud Hancock 
formed his brigade in line of battle within the 
enemy's line of fortifications, and moved at once on 
a line parallel to the one by whicli he had ad- 
vanced, straight back toward the rebel center at 
Fort Magruder. It was a masterly movement. By 
one quick stroke he had completely turned the 
enemy's left, and unless stopped and driven back, 
he would render the whole rebel line untenable. 
The enemy fell back slowly before his advance, 
until a position some twelve hundred yards from 
Fort Magruder was reached. From this point, a 
gentle slope descended some distance toward the 
rebel center. It was a fine position for artillery 
work, and Hancock sent his two batteries a short 
distance to the front with adequate support, and a 
lieavy artillery duel ensued. The position, how- 
ever, was a perilous one. His little command was 
a long distance from any supports ; an almost im- 
passable ravine was between it and the rest of the 
division and the army, and before it was an over- 
whelming force; in fact, the whole rebel army. 
Ke-enforcements were sent for, but none came. 
The day wore on and the position became critical ; 



44 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

without re-enforcements it seemed madness to at- 
tempt to hold the advantage gained. With ade- 
quate support the rebel army was at our mercy. 
Between these conflicting views the General held 
on until nearly 5 o'clock in the afternoon. Then 
Gen. Hancock determined to withdraw, and issued 
the order to retire the batteries back to the slope 
where the brigade line stood. 

But the lynx-eyed rebel commander, having 
repulsed Hooker in front, and realizing perfectly 
the danc;;er which threatened him with his left 
flank turned, made his dispositions with a view 
of utterly overwhelming Hancock. The order 
to retire the artillery had not been executed when, 
with a tremendous cheer, the enemy debouched 
from the woods on Hancock's right front, and, in 
two splendid lines of battle, two brigades of 
Early's troops moved on Hancock's line. Tliere 
was no such thing as retreat then. Retreat meant 
rout — utter overthrow — capture. Whatever might 
be the effect of standing his ground, retreat was 
the worst of all possible expedients. Hancock 
stood his ground. Not altogether. The enemy, 
regardless of shell and hardly stopping for canister, 
swept around and almost enveloped the artillery, 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 45 

which barely escaped from a loop in the rebel 
advance, and went into the battery again on the 
slope. The brigade, in perfect order, firing steadily, 
slowly I'etired before the rebel advance. The 
latter came on impetuously, .firing and shouting 
"Bull Run! Bull Run! That flag is ours." 
As they came slowly up the slope, flushed with 
certain victory, Hancock seized the opportune 
moment. He had been sitting close behind the 
center of the line, watching with imperturbable 
coolness the phases of the struggle. It was a 
supreme hour. Would his bi'igade respond in the 
presence of such overwhelming advancing num- 
bers? The fight was, it must be remembered, in 
the open field. It was now at murderously short 
range. The thoughts of this brave commander in 
that crisis nobody knew. What he did, all the 
world knows. The Little Corporal is said to have 
watched a similar struggle, and at the crisis to 
have thrown himself headlono^ across the Bridsre 
of Lodi. What Hancock did was a piece of the 
same personal daring. Dashing forward on his 
horse, with head bared, swinging his hat, and shout- 
ing, "Forward! For^vard ! For God's sake for- 
ward ! " he showed himself among his men in the line 



46 GETnT. winfield s. hancock. 

of battle. Forty yards away was the great irregu- 
lai*]y-sliaped, iiriug, shouting rebel force. It seemed 
madness to attempt to stop them. But not a second 
intervened when the Ijrigade saw and recognized 
Hancock's blazing form before them, and, with a 
shout that drowned the crackling musketry, with 
lowered bayonets, and with a line as perfect as 
though the men were on parade, the brigade 
advanced. A minute more, and the conflicting 
forces would be hand to hand. But this did not 
occur. 

The rebel line faltered, then stopped, then turned, 
as though actuated by one unpleasant, common 
impulse, and back they went, slowly, obstinately, 
fighting still, but still back the way they came, 
leaving the ground thickly covered with their 
dead and wounded, to say nothing of some hun- 
dreds who were found retreating under fire not 
so aorreeable as advancino* under the same condi- 
tions, and who held up white handkerchiefs and 
surrendered. Shortly after the struggle was 
over, the wished-for re-enforcements came in plenty. 
But now it was night. The great opportunity of 
following up the blow was lost. During the 
night the enemy retreated, the success of Hancock 



GETT. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 47 

havins: made the Williamsburo^ lines untenable, 

O O 7 

althougli constructed to sustain a siege. This was 
Hancock's first glory, and it was a shining glory 
too. From an unknown subordinate, in a few 
hoars his name was heard from Maine to Cali- 
fornia. It was a lucky day, but the luck was 
deserved, because, while yet acting with reasonable 
caution, Hancock dared to go foi'ward, and do 
what the true soldier always has to do — take 
some chances. It is casting no reflection on 
others to say that four out of ^ve of the general 
ofi[icers of the Army of the Potomac at that time 
would not have crossed that ravine with Hancock's 
force in the face of the rebel army as he did. 
McClellan's report of Hancock's achievement on 
the field of Williamsburg was a notable saying 
for the head of the army to use. In his telegraphed 
report to the President, he said, " Hancock was 
superb" — an expression which all who saw him on 
that day, towering above his men in the crisis of 
the struggle, plucking victory from the jaws of 
defeat by the inspiration of heroic example, will 
own was truthfully applicable and not in the least 
poetical. 

General McClellan, in a dispatch to Mr. Stanton, 



48 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

Secretary of War, dated " In bivouac, in front of 
Williamsbui'g, May 10, 18G2," writes: "After 
arranging for movements by General York, I find 
General Joe Johnson in front of me in strong 
force, probably a mucb greater than my own. 
General Hancock has taken redoubts, and repulsed 
Early's rebel brigade by a charge with the bayonet, 
taking one colonel and 150 privates. Killed at 
least two colonels and many privates. His con- 
duct was brilliant in the extreme." An eye- 
witness of this brilliant feat of arms says that " at 
five o'clock General Hancock's brigade, assisted by 
Kennedy's and Wheeler's battalions, was ordered 
to the right to feel the enemy, if possible, upon 
its left wing. They were met by General Early's 
l)rigade, consisting of the 5th Carolina and 24:th 
and o8th Virginia regiments, with a squadron of 
cavalry, who advanced in line of battle. The 
three bodies of troops were quickly prepared to 
receive them, and opened a heavy fire; l^ut the 
enemy advanced, steadily to within 200 yards, 
when General Hancock ordered a charge of the 
bayonet, which was executed with the greatest 
rapidity and courage. The conduct of General 
Hancock with his brigade I think one of the most 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 49 

brilliant battles of the war. It excited universal 
ad miration from the field. A shout went up from 
tens of thousands of Union throats, which made 
the country resound for miles around.^' 
4 



CHAPTER V. 

RICHMOND, ANTIETAM, FKEDERICKSBURG, CHAl^CEL- 
LORSVILLE. 

DuRiT^a the rest of the Peninsular Campaign, 
General Hancock often engaged the enemy, and al- 
ways with credit and distinction. While lying on 
the lines before Richmond, on the afternoon and 
evening of June 27th, his brigade sustained and re- 
pulsed at Golding's Farm an attack of the enemy 
in force. The closing part of this fight showed on 
General Hancock's part the tactics which he jDrac- 
ticed first at William sburo^, and for which he be- 
came famous — that of holding his position tena- 
ciously until the critical moment in the attack of 
the enemy arrived, and then demoralizing him by 
an impetuous advance. Such counter-strokes the 
best troops will hardly stand. But to be able to 
make them successfully, the commander must pos- 
sess the perfect confidence of his own men. No 
general can advance with disheartened and half-de- 

50 



GETT. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 51 

feated troops. To possess their confidence, the gen- 
eral must share their peril and be seen by them. 
This was one of Hancock's secrets. When a bri- 
gade commander, he was always among his men, 
riding up and down close behind his line of battle, 
encouraging them by voice and example — not only 
sharing their danger, but exposing himself more 
than they, and taking more than his share of peril. 
As he rose in rank and commanded larger bodies 
of men, he did not abandon this practice, and, like 
other officers high in command, remain safely in 
the rear, executing his movements by his aids 
alone. He was always at the critical point a*!, the 
critical moment, and his soldiers always knew 
that they were fighting under the eye of a com- 
mander who never knew fear himself, and would 
tolerate it in nobody else. The fight at Gold- 
ing's Farm was peculiar from the fact that it ex- 
tended into the night, and the scene of the con- 
tending forces, as they blazed away at each other 
at close quarters all along the line and in the dark, 
w^as one of the finest spectacles of the war. 

On the 28th of June, at Garnett's Hill, General 
Hancock was again heavily engaged, as he was at 
Savage Station on the 29th, and at White Oak 



52 GEN. WINFIELD S. HAKCOCK. 

Swamp on the 30th. In this latter engagement 
his brigade sustained without flinching, until or- 
dered to fall back, the fire of sixty pieces of rebel 
artillery from a position on the other side of a 
ravine. The rebel position could not be attacked, 
and no reply, except by two or three of the Union 
batteries, could be made to this tremendous bom- 
bardment. General Hancock's brio-ade held their 
position throughout the day, repelling the infantry 
attacks of the enemy successfully until the im- 
mense wagon trains of our retreating army were 
out of the way. It was an occasion that tried the 
steadiness of his men more than anything else could 
have done. For three days his men, in common 
with the rest of the retreating army, had been 
fighting by day and marching by night. They 
were worn out with fatigue and want of sleep. 
Under such circumstances the best troops are lia- 
ble to give way before a heavy and concentrated 
fire of artillery, and that they endured this without 
flinching told volumes of their bravery and disci- 
pline. 

For his conspicuous services in these and other 
engagements during the Peninsular Campaign, and 
the seven davs' fi^ht which closed at Malvern 



GEN. WIIN^FIELD S. HANCOCK. 53 

Hill, General Hancock was recommended by the 
General-in-Chief for promotion to the rank of 
Major-General of Volunteers, and for the bre- 
vets of Major, Lieutenant-Colonel, and Colonel 
in the United States Army. His promotion 
was for the highest possible cause, " Gallant 
and meritorious conduct in the Peninsular Cam- 
paign.'' 

The campaign against Richmond having failed, 
and the Army of the Potomac having been trans- 
ferred from Harrison's Landing northward, Gene- 
ral Hancock took part in the campaign in August 
and September, having been moved to Centerville 
to the support of Pope. He commanded his bri- 
gade at South Mountain, when McClellan was re- 
stored to the command of the Army of the Poto- 
mac. On the 17th of September he shared con- 
spicuously in the dangers and glory of the victory 
of Antietam. It will be remembered that in this 
engagement the gallant Richardson, commander of 
the First Division, Second Army Corps, was mor- 
tally wounded. General Hancock was on the field 
placed in command of the division, from which 
time dated his connection with this corps, which 
he afterward commanded with such success and 



54 GETT. wi:n^field s. hancock. 

renown. After the retreat of Lee across the Po- 
tomac, General Hancock led the advance from 
Harpers Ferry to Charleston, striking the enemy's 
line, and driving him with sharp fighting. In No- 
vember, he received his commission of Major-Gen- 
eral of United States Volunteers. He moved with 
his division to Fredericksburg, and on the 13th of 
December took part in the desperate and bloody 
assault on May re's Heights. His behavior on 
this occasion was in keeping with the high reputa- 
tion he had achieved. He was, with his division, 
in the thickest of the conflict, leading his men as 
far as it was possible, under the circumstances, for 
men to go, and only falling back when attempt at 
further advance was fool-hardy and useless. In 
this light, as, in fact, in almost every one in which 
he was engaged, he seemed to wear a charm on his 
life. He received in the " slaughter pen," as the 
rank and file were wont to call the position they 
occupied in this fight, a slight flesh wound, coming 
out otherwise unharmed, though with uniform 
perforated with the enemy's bullets. When Gen- 
eral Hooker made his attempt on Lee's lines at 
Chancellorsville, in May, 1863, to General Han- 
cock's division important duties were assigned. 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 55 

is division was unmoved amid the ruin that fol- 
lowed the rout of the Eleventh Corps, was among 
the last to leave the field, and retired in splendid 
order, forming the rear guard of the defeated 
army. The division repelled every attack of the 
enemy, and often were opposed to many times 
their number. As usual, Hancock was right 
among his men, holding them to their work by his 
presence. Fortune was again kind to him. He 
received no wound, having only his horse shot 
under him. A month after this battle, Hancock 
was put in command of the Second Corps, in which 
for nine months he had been a division command- 
er. His elevation to this command gave unusual 
satisfaction to the men and officers whose chief he 
was to be, and was recognized by the army and 
the country as a hardly and fairly earned tribute to 
the highest soldierly qualities. His assignment to 
the command was at first temporary, occurring on 
the retirement of General Couch on the 10th of 
June. But soon was to occur the culminating 
event of the war. Lee was to start on his inva- 
sion of the North, aiul the race between the op- 
posing armies for Washington, or perhaps Philadel- 
phia, was about to begin. It was during this 



56 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

memorable movement, namely, on the 25tli of June, 
that President Lincoln himself permanently con- 
firmed General Hancock in the command of his 
corps. 1 



CHAPTER VI. 

GETTYSBUEG BY MAJOR-GENERAL ST. CLAIR A. MUL- 

HOLLAND. 

In all the four years of its existence, the men 
of the Army of the Potomac never hailed an or- 
der with more delight than that one which with- 
drew us from before Fredericksburg and sent us 
North. When on that lovely summer evening in 
June, 1863, we looked for the last time on Larve's 
and the monument of Washington's mother, which 
had been shattered and broken by the shells of 
both armies, and stood out there on the plain, back 
of the city, as though protesting against this fra- 
tricidal sti'ife, a mute and sorrowful Niobe weep- 
ing for the misfortunes of her children, every heart 
beat with a quickened throb, and all the men re- 
joiced to leave the scenes of the last six months. 
We withdrew from the line of the river after the 
shades of night had fallen over the landscape; 
and it seemed an appropriate hour, for had not 

57 



58 GET^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

tlie great army while here been in shadow, with- 
out a ray of sunshine to gladden our souls ? and 
we had been here so long we were beginning to 
be forgotten as the Army of the Potomac, and 
letters came to us marked " Army of the Rappa- 
hannock." As we marched awav in the darkness 
our joy was not unmingled with sorrow, for was 
there a veteran in the ranks who did not leave be- 
hind the graves of noble and well-beloved comrades 
who had fought beside him from the beginning of 
the great struggle ? We did not march away with 
all the army. When our camp-fires — which on 
this night burned v/ith unusual l^rightness — went 
out, and left the Valley of the Rappahannock in 
darkness, the living army was gone, to be sure, but 
twenty-five thousand of our members lay over on 
the other side of the river — the heroes of Freder- 
icksburg and Chancellors ville. An army of occu- 
pation, indeed, the corps of honor, forming a great 
and permanent camp — the bivouac of the dead. 

Thoughts of sadness soon gave way to those of 
a more buoyant nature ; we felt, when the head of 
the column turned toward the capital, the road we 
trod would lead to victory. The march to Gettys- 
burg was one of the longest and most severe we 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 59 

had yet experienced. In thinking of war we are 
apt to look only at the battles; to hear the dread 
sound of strife ; to see the deadly, gaping wounds, 
and are ready to crown the survivors or give 
honor to those wdio fell ; but the hardships of the 
marcli, the heats of summer, the colds of winter, 
the entire absence of every comfort and luxury in 
active service is overlooked or forgotten by those 
who do not participate. Napoleon, when retreat- 
ing from Moscow, lost many of his men by the ex- 
cessive cold ; directly opposite was our experience 
on the way to Gettysburg. On one day, I think 
the second out from Falmouth, our corps lost 
more than a dozen men from sunstroke — they fell 
dead by the way-side. On another day we crossed* 
the little battlefield of Bull Run, where the year 
before Pope had met with disastrous defeat. No 
effort had been made to bury the dead properly ; 
a little earth, which the rain had lone asfo washed 
away, had been thrown over them where they fell, 
and their bodies, or rather their skeletons now 
lay exposed to view. In some parts of the field 
they were in groups, in other places singly, and in 
all possible positions. One cavalryman lay out- 
stretched with skeleton hand still grasping his 



60 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

trusted sword. Another, half covered with earth, 
the flesh still clinging to his lifeless bones, and 
hand extended as if to greet us. We rested 
for a short time on the iield, and one of the regi- 
ments of our brigade (the Twenty-eighth Massa- 
chusetts) halted on the very spot on which they 
had fought the year previously, and recognized the 
various articles lying around as belonging to their 
own dead. 

The route of the Second Corps to Gettysburg 
was over two hundred miles in length. Some days 
we marched fifteen, on others eighteen miles, and 
on one day (June 29th) this corps completed the 
longest march made by any infantry during the 
war — leaving Frederick City, Md., in the morning, 
and halting at 11 o'clock, p. m., two miles beyond 
Uniontown, a distance of thirty-four miles. When 
I look back over the almost score of years to this 
march of the Second Corps, and think of the per- 
fect discipline in the ranks, the cheerfulness with 
which the enlisted men, with their load of fifty- 
seven pounds weight — musket and ammunition, 
knapsack and cartridge-box, shelter-tent and 
blanket, canteen and rations — trudged along under 
the broiling sun of the hottest month in our year ; 



^ 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 61 

how bravely they struggled to keep up with 
their regiments lest they should miss the fight, 
and how, while on the march, no act was commit- 
.'ted which could bring dishonor upon them as 
men, as citizens or soldiers, my heart fills with ad- 
miration, and I offer a flowing measure of praise 
to my comrades who are yet alive, and to those 
who are no more. There is not an inhabitant on 
all that line of march who can tell of a single act 
of vandalism by any of the men, such as we are 
wont to hear of other armies. In the rich and 
cultivated country through which we passed, life 
and property were respected as though we were in 
the halcyon days of peace. Old and young came 
to the roadside to see the army pass, and knew 
they were safe from insult or molestation. The 
fields of ripening grain waved untrampled when 
the corps had gone by, the men even going out of 
their way to avoid the gardens, lest they should 
step on the flowers. The perfection of discipline 
in the army at this period was extraordinary. 
The armies that fought the war of 1861 differed 
very widely from the armies of other nations. 
We had no hordes of Cossacks, no regiments of 
Bashi-Bazouks to burn and destroy, to insult the 



62 GElSr. WliS^FIELD S. IIAISTCOCK. 

ao^ed or crusL. tlie defenseless. AVlien Hancock, at 
Williamsburg, said to Lis brigade, " Gentlemen, 
charge ! " he did not call his troops out of their 
name. Our army was literally an army of gen- 
tlemen. 

And so we passed through Thoroughfare Gap, 
to Edwards' Ferry, to Frederick, Md., to Union- 
town and Taneytown, where, on the morning of 
July 1st, the Second Corps was massed, and where 
General Meade's head-quarters had been estab- 
lished. While the corps were filing into the 
fields to the right and left of the road, and settling- 
down for a rest and to wait for orders, General 
Hancock rode over to Genei'al Meade and entered 
into conversation with him. As they were talk- 
ing, a mounted officer dashed uj:), bringing the 
intelligence that fighting had begun at Gettysburg 
— thirteen miles distant. The news was meagre — 
only that there was fighting. That was all ; yet 
it caused a general surprise, unawai'e as we were of 
the near proximity of the enemy, and it was 
enouojh to send a thrill throuo-hout the veteran 
ranks. The road that leads to Gettysburg is 
scanned with anxious eyes, and soon, away in the 
distance, rises a cloud of dust, which comes 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HAIS^COCK. 63 

nearer and nearer, and another messenger from 
the front is with ns. He tells us that Reynolds 
is killed or mortally wounded ; that the First and 
Eleventh corps are fighting, and the battle is 
against us. It is now 1 o'clock, too late for the 
Second Corps to reach the field that day to take 
part in stemming the tide of rebel victory ; but 
not so with their commander. Meade orders Han- 
cock to proceed to the front and take command 
of all the troops there assembled. This was ten 
minutes past 1 o'clock, and within twenty min- 
utes Hancock, with his staff, was on the road to 
Gettysburg. He was, like Hesaix at Marengo, to 
snatch victory from the jaws of defeat. (A 
strange coincidence. Nearly a century before, the 
grandfather of General Hancock, then a soldier of 
WashingtoD, started from the same little village 
of Taneytown to escort some of the prisoners of 
Burgoyne to Valley Forge.) The Second Corps 
prom])tly followed General Hancock, and it re- 
quired no urging to keep the men up. The regi- 
ments moved forward solidly and rapidly, and not 
a strao^o^ler was to be seen. I never saw men 
cover thirteen miles so quickly ; but as they hur- 
ried along a halt was ordered, the ranks opened, 



64 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

and an ambulance passed containing the dead body 
of tlie heroic General John F. Reynolds. Then 
the corps pushed on to within a few miles of the 
battle ground, where it camped that night, and 
arrived on the iield early the next morning. 



CHAPTEE VII. 

HANCOCK TO THE FRONT. 

As General Hancock proceeded to the front, he 
rode part of the way in an ambulance, so that he 
might examine the maps of the country ; his aid, 
Major Mitchell, galloped ahead to announce his 
coming to General Howard, whom he found on 
Cemetery Hill, and to whom he told his errand, 
giving him to understand that General Hancock 
was coming up to take command. At half past 
two o'clock General Hancock rode up to General 
Howard, informed him that he had come to take 
command, and asked him if he wished to see his 
written orders. Howard answered, " No ! no ! Han- 
cock, go ahead ! " At this moment our defeat seemed 
to be complete. Our troops were flowing thi'ough 
the streets of the town in great disorder, closely pur- 
sued by the Confederates, the retreat fast becoming 
a rout, and in a very few minutes the enemy would 
be in possession of Cemetery Hill, the key to the 

5 65 



66 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

position ; and the battle of Gettysburg would have 
gone into history as a rebel victory. But what a 
change came over the scene in the next half hour. 
The presence of Hancock, like that of Sheridan, 
was magnetic. Order came out of chaos. The 
flying troops halt, and again face the enemy. The 
battalions of Howard's cor]3s, that were retreating 
down the Baltimore pike, are called back, and 
with a cheer go into position on the crest of Cem- 
etery Hill, where the division of Steinwehr had 
already been stationed. Wadsworth's division and 
a battery are sent to hold Gulp's Hill, and Geary, 
with the White Star division, goes on the double- 
quick to occupy the high ground toward Round 
Top. Confidence is restored, the enemy checked, 
and, being deceived by these dispositions, cease 
their attack. 

General Hancock was fully aware that General 
Meade had determined to fio^ht the battle on the 
line of Pipe Creek ; but noting the topographical 
advantages of the ground around Gettysburg, he 
determined to advise General Meade to fight there. 
He knew that this line, the crest of Cemetery 
Eidge, with Gulp's Hill on the right. Round Top 
on the left, and Cemetery Hill in the center, could 



f 



GElSr. WINFIELD S. HATSTCOCK. 67 

not be bettered. So, when order bad taken tbe 
place of confusion and our lines once more intact, 
be sent bis senior aid, Major Mitcbell, back to tell 
General Meade tbat, in bis judgment, Gettysburg 
was tbe place to figbt our battle. Major Mitcbell 
found General Meade in tbe evening, near Taney- 
town, and communicated tbese views. General 
Meade listened attentively, and on tbese repre- 
sentations be fortunately concluded to abandon 
bis idea of iigbting on tbe line of Pipe Creek and 
deliver tbe battle at Gettysburg, and turning to 
General Setb Williams, bis adjutant-genei'al, be 
said, " Order up all tbe troops ; we will figbt 
tbere." Tbe morning of July 2d, and tbe second 
day of tbe battle, dawned clear and brigbt, and 
found Hancock posting tbe Second Corps on Cem- 
etery llidge. As yet no one in tbat corps, witb 
tbe exception of tbe General and bis staff, bad 
beard a sbot fired. As we approacbed Gettys- 
burg tbe day before, tbe sounds of tbe figbt, 
owino; to tbe direction of tbe wind or tbe forma- 
tion of tbe country, were wbolly inaudible. Tbose 
wbo came upon tbe field after nigbtfall bad no 
idea of tbe whereabouts of tbe enemy ; but as tbe 
daylight increased and objects became visible, we 



68 GEN". WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

saw tlieir lines nearly a mile distant on Seminary 
Ridge, and away to our left rose Little Round 
To|). As the day wore on, and not a shot or a 
hostile sound broke the stillness of the morning, 
it became evident that the enemy were not yet 
ready to renew the fight. Our corps had got into 
position, and in a wood just back of our line the 
birds caroled and sans; loud and lono;. Our 
lioi'ses quietly browsed in tlie rich grass, and the 
men lay in groups jDeacefully enjoying a rest after 
the rapid march of the day before. The troops 
that arrived upon the field or changed their po- 
sition did so leisurely and unmolested. Sickles 
came up and went into jDOsition on our left, and 
Geary took his division over to Gulp's Hill. About 
ten o'clock picket-firing was heard out toward 
Little Round Top, continuing at intervals until 
long after noon, at times becoming quite sharp. 
But three o'clock came, and still no indications of 
the general engagement. 

The troops had partly recovered from their 
fatigue, and were actually beginning to enjoy life ; 
some of them indulged in a quiet game of euchre, 
while others toasted their hard-tack, or fried a lit- 
tle bacon at the small fires in the rear of the lines. 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HATTCOCK. 69 

Shortly after three o'clock, a movement was appa- 
rent on our left. From where we (Caldwell's 
division) lay, the whole country in our front, and 
far to our left, away to the peach orchard and to 
Little Hound Top, was in full view. Our division 
stood in brigade column, and when it became evi- 
dent that something was going to take place, the 
boys dropped their cards, regardless of what was 
trump — even the men who held both bowers and 
the ace — and all gathered on the most favorable 
position, to witness the opening of the ball. Soon 
the long lines of the Third Corps are seen advanc- 
ing, and how splendidly they march ! It looks like 
a dress parade — a review. On, on, they go, out 
toward the peach orchard, but not a shot is fired. 
A little while longer, and some one calls out, 
" There ! " and points to where a cloud of smoke is 
seen arising against the dark green of the woods. 
Another and another cloud, until the whole face of 
the forest is enveloped, and the dread sound of the 
artillery comes loud and quick; shells are seen 
bursting in all directions along the lines. The 
bright colors of the regiments are conspicuous 
marks, and the shells burst around them in great 
numbers. The musketry begins, the infantry be- 



70 GEI^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

comes engaged, and the battle extends along the 
whole front of Sickle's corps. Now the sounds 
come from Little Round Top, and the smoke rises 
amoncy the trees, and all the hio^h and wooded 
ground to the left of the peach orchard seems to 
he the scene of strife. An hour passes, and our 
troops give way, and are falling back ; but slowly, 
veiy slowly, every inch of ground is fought for. 
The Third Corps is not in the habit of giving it u]?, 
and they hold their own well ; but the odds are 
against them, and they are forced to retire. 

Now help is called foi*, and Hancock tells Cald- 
well to have his division ready. ^' Fall in ! " and 
the men run to their places. *' Take arms ! " and 
the four brigades of Zook, Cross, Brook, and Kelly 
are ready for the fray. There is yet a few minutes 
to spare before starting, and the time is occupied 
in one of the most impressive religious ceremonies 
1 have ever witnessed. The Irish Brigade, which 
had been commanded formerly by Gren. Thomas 
Francis Meagher, and whose green flag had been 
unfurled in every battle in which the Army of the 
Potomac had been engaged, from the first Bull 
Run to Ap23omattox, and was now commanded by 
Colonel Patrick Kelly, of the Eighty-eighth New 



GE]^. WINFIELD S. HAKCOCK. 71 

York, formed a part of this division. The brigade 
stood in columns of regiments, closed in mass. As 
the large majority of its members were Catholics, 
the chaplain of the brigade. Rev. William Corly, 
proposed to give a general absolution to all the men 
before going into the fight. While this is custom- 
ary in the armies of Catholic countries of Europe, 
it was, perhaps, the first time it was ever witnessed 
on this continent, unless, indeed, the grim old war- 
rior Ponce de Leon, as he tramped through the 
everglades of Florida, in search of the Fountain 
of Youth, or De Soto, on his march to the Missis- 
sippi, indulged in this act of devotion. Father 
Corly stood upon a large rock in front of the bri- 
gade, addressing the men; he explained what he 
was about to do, saying that each one could receive 
the benefit of the absolution by making a sincere 
act of contrition, and firmly resolving to embrace 
the first opportunity of confessing their sins ; urg- 
ing them to do their duty well, and reminding 
them of the hi2:h and sacred nature of their trust 
as soldiers, and the noble object for which they 
fought ; ending by saying that the Catholic Church 
refuses Christian burial to the soldier who turns 
his back upon the foe or deserts his fiag. The 



73 GEN^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

brigade was standing at " Order arms. " As he 
closed liis address, every man fell on his knees, 
with head bowed down. Then, stretchino; his rio-ht 
hand toward the brigade, Father Corly pronounced 
the words of the absolution : " Dominus noster 
Jesus Christus vos absolvat, et ego, auctoritate ip- 
sius, vos absolvo ab omni vinculo excommunica- 
tionis et indigetis, deinde ego absolvo vos a pec- 
catis vestris, in nomine Patris, et Filii et Spiritus 
Sancti, Amen. " The scene was more than impres- 
sive, it was awe-inspiring. Near by stood Han- 
cock, surrounded by a brilliant throng of officers, 
who had gathered to witness this very unusual 
occurrence, and, while thei'e was profound silence 
in the ranks of the Second Corps, yet over to the 
left, out by the peach orchard and Little Round 
Top, where Weed and Vincent and Haslett were 
dying, the roar of the battle rose and swelled and 
re-echoed through the woods, making music more 
sublime than ever sounded through cathedral aisle. 
The act seemed to be in harmony with all the sur- 
roundings. I do not think there was a man in the 
brigade who did not offer up a heartfelt prayer. 
For some it was their last ; they knelt there in their 
grave-clothes — in less than half an hour many of 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 73 

them were numbered witli tlie dead of July 2d. 
Who can doubt that their prayers were good? 
What was wanting in the eloquence of the priest 
to move them to repentance, was supi^lied in the 
incidents of the fight. That heart would be in- 
corrigible, indeed, that tlie scream of a Whitworth 
bolt, added to Father Corly's touching appeal 
would not move to contrition. 

The maps published by the Government make 
the line of Caldwell's division mo vino; to the left 
at four o'clock. I think this is a mistake. I believe 
it was nearly ^ve o'clock before we started. The 
division moved off by the left flank and marcked 
rapidly. We had hardly got under way when the 
enemy's batteries opened, and skells began falling 
all around us. The ground on which this division 
faced the enemy the afternoon of the second had 
already been fought over again and again, and the 
fields and woods were strewed with killed and 
wounded. Anderson and McLaws had driven our 
troops from the peach orchard, and the line on 
which Sickles had placed the Third Corps had 
been in a great part abandoned. As we arrived 
on the rising ground to the left of the peacli orch- 
ard, the brigade of De Trobriand had been pushed 



74 GEIT. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

back out of tlie woods and across the wheat-field, 
after a most 2:allant fi^'ht. As our division ad- 
vanced, many of the shattered regiments of the 
Third Corps passed to the rear through the inter- 
vals in our line. They retired in good order, with 
colors flying. To the left of the -wheat-field Cross 
deployed his brigade; Kelly passed to the right 
and Brook to the left. The brigades were still in 
column of regiments when they appeared in front 
of the enemy, and the columns deployed on the 
double-quick and, forming line, advanced to find 
the Confederates. We had not far to look. As 
we approached the crest of the rugged hill, from 
behind the huge bowlders that were everywhere 
scattered around, the men of Longstreet's corps 
rose up and poured into our ranks a most destruc- 
tive fire. The sudden meeting astonished us, the 
lines being not more than thirty feet apart when 
the firing opened. I cannot imagine why the rebs 
allowed us to get so near before firing, unless they 
thought we would give way under the weight and 
impulse of the attack. If this was their idea they 
were badly mistaken. Our men promptly returned 
the fire, and for ten or fifteen minutes the work of 
death went on. There was no cheering, no time 



GEN. WIlSrriELD S. HANCOCK. 75 

lost in unnecessary movements. Every man there, 
both Union and rebel, were veterans, and knew 
just what was wanted. - They stood there face to 
face, loading and firing, and so close that every 
shot told. In a short time the brigades of Cross 
and Brook began forcing the enemy back, and 
after firing for about ten minutes Colonel Kelly 
gave the order to charge. The men, rushing for- 
w^ard with a cheer, w^ere among the enemy in a 
few moments. 

Here took place a rather extraordinary scene. 
In an instant our men and their opponents were 
mingled together. In charging we had literally 
run right in among them. Firing instantly ceased, 
and we found there were as many of the enemy as 
there were of ourselves. Officers and men looked 
for a time utterly bewildered ; all the fighting had 
stopped, yet the Graybacks still retained their 
arms and showed no disposition to surrender. At 
this moment a Union ofiicer called out in a loud 
voice : " The Confederate troo]:)s will lay down 
their arms and go to the rear ! " This ended a 
scene that was becoming embarrassing. The Con- 
federates promptly obeyed, and a large number of 
what I think were some of Kershaw's brigade 



73 GET^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

became our prisoners. In front of Kelly's brigade 
we found that the enemy had suffered much more 
than we had. When engaged, our line was below 
theirs, as they stood on the crest of the hill. They 
fired down while our men fired upward, and ours 
was more effective. On their line we found 
many dead, but few wounded — they were nearly 
all hit in the head or the upper part of the 
body. Behind one rock I counted -^ve dead bod- 
ies. This was some of the most severe fiofhtins; 
our division had ever done, and so close that the 
ofiicei's used their revolvers. During the fight my 
I'eo^iment held the extreme rio-ht of the division, 
and from where we stood I could see the peach 
orchard, and none of our troops were between that 
point and us — a distance of more than a quarter 
of a mile. As we were en2:ao:ed, a column of 
troops passed through this interval, go into our 
rear, and formed a line of battle facino* the wheat- 
field. The hour that this column moved in here is 
put down on the Government maps as seven o'clock. 
I think this incorrect ; it could not have been so 
late. And now we find that while our division 
had been, in ^ manner, ^actorious in checking the 
impetuous attack at this point, and had taken 



GEIN^. WliS^FIELD S. IIAIS^COCK. 77 

many prisoners, we are ourselves in very serious 
trouble — a line of battle in our rear and another 
in our front, both moving to attack us at once. As 
we get ready to repel the attack in front, Woft'ord's 
Georgia troops strike us in tlie rear. The brigades 
of Cross and Brook are more fortunate just now 
than those of Zook and Kelly. The Confederate 
lines in our rear did not extend far enouorh to 
cover the t\vo first, but Kelly and Zook were com- 
pletely surrounded, and the only way out of the 
traj^ was to j^ass down between the two rebel 
lines ; so the two brigades started on a double- 
quick — firing as they ran — toward Little Kound 
Top, the only opening through which we could 
escape. 

Passing through this alley of death, where the 
bullets came thick as hail, we got away with a 
large part of the division, but the loss was terri- 
ble. In the half hour that we were under fire, 
fourteen hundred men were lost. Of the four 
brigade commanders, two were killed — General 
S. H. Zook and Colonel E. E. Cross. Cross fell 
almost at the first fii-e, and Zook a few minutes 
afterward. On the morning of that day, General 
Hancock said to Colonel Cross : *' This is the last 



78 GEIS-. WINFIELD S. HAIS^COCK. 

time you will fight as a colonel ; to-day will make 
you a brigadier-general." Cross answered firmly 
and sadly, as though he felt sure of what lie said : 
" No ; it is too late, General, I will never wear the 
star. To-day I shall be killed." Just after Zook 
fell. Colonel Richard P. Roberts, who succeeded 
to the command of the brigade, was shot through 
the heart. He was a gallant and much-beloved 
officer, and he left a sick-bed when he heard of 
Lee moving into Pennsylvania, and, weak and ema- 
ciated, he found his regiment only two days before 
he was killed. Some of the men who fell in the 
Avheat-field during the retreat of this division, and 
were forced to lie there between the two fires, fared 
badly. One man of my regiment fell shot through 
the leg, and while he lay there was hit five or six 
times. When it became evident that we had to 
fall back, our wounded begged piteously to be 
taken along — many of them keeping with us, 
wholly unaided, kjergeant Thos. Grey was shot 
through the stomach, and, with entrails pi'otrud- 
ing, managed to drag himself along, and succeeded 
in escaping with us. 

It was now getting late; the sun was nearing 
the liorizon, but the ])attle of the day was not yet 



GEI^. WIT^FIELD S. HANCOCK. 79 

ended. The wheat-field was to have more 
victims. As Caldwell retired, Ayers came up and 
went in with his regulars — another effort to gain 
the wooded crest that extended from Little Round 
Top toward the peach orchard. As he advanced, 
he must have struck the flank of the Confederates 
that had but a short time before poured destruc- 
tion into the rear of Caldwell's division. Ayers 
doubled them up, driving everything before him 
to somewhere near the point whence we had 
just been driven. Then McCandless took up the 
fight, and, with the Pennsylvania Reserves, suc- 
ceeded in gaining and holding some of the lost 
ground. The fighting at this point, during the 
evening of July 2d, was of a most sanguinary charac- 
ter, each side fighting with a dreadful earnestness. 
Four or five of our best divisions had charged over 
the same spot, and were met every time by the 
choice troops of the enemy — both determined to 
hold the ridge in front of the wheat-field. Gren- 
eral Buf ord says of the first day's fight : " There 
seems to be no directing head." This might be 
applied to the fighting of the left on the second 
day. If there was any directing head, it was not 
especially visible. Until toward dark, the fight 



80 GE^. WINFIELD S. HA]^COCK. 

Lad certainly gone against ns, and the battle had 
extended along the line, to the right, almost half 
way to the cemetery. The evening and our pros- 
pects grew dark together. The Third Corps had 
been driven back, broken and shattered, its com- 
mander wounded and carried from the field, the 
troops that had gone to its support fared no bet- 
ter, and every man felt that the situation was 
grave. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

HANCOCK TO THE EESCUE. 

However, all was not yet lost. Meade had 
again thought of Hancock, and as yesterday he 
sent him to stop the rout of the First and Eleventh 
corps, so to-day he orders him to assume command 
on the left. Once more he is in the fight. 
A half-hour of daylight yet remains, but it 
is long enough to enable him to rally some 
of our scattered troops, face them once more to 
the front, gather re-enforcements, drive back the 
enemy, and restore our broken lines. At Water- 
loo, Wellington petitioned to God for " night or 
Blucher." At Gettysburg, on this evening, we had 
no Blucher to pray for. Our whole force was up ; 
but, while omitting the last part of the great 
Englishman's prayei*, we had every reason to adopt 
the first portion. As the fight was closing upon 
the left of our army, Ewell was striking a terrific 
and successful blow on the right. We reformed 

6 81 



82 GEIT. WIl^FIELD S. IIAT^TCOCK. 

our division on the Taneytown road, and after the 
rouo:h handlius: we had received, had some diffi- 
culty in getting things in shape. As we were 
thus occupied, away to the right and rear w^e 
heard the yells of the Louisiana Tigers, as they 
rushed over our w^orks at Gulp's Hill. This was 
the most anxious hour of all in the great battle. 
"We had been driven on the left, and on the right 
the rebs had effected a lodgment in our works, 
one of our strongest positions, and were, in fact, 
in our rear, without any adequate force to oppose 
them. Another hour of daylight, and unless some 
mi]"acle had intervened, we would most likely 
have left Gettysburg without waiting to bid the 
inhabitants good evening. But, fortunately for us, 
there was no Joshua around Lee's head-quarters, 
so the sun went down on aLnanac time, utterly re- 
gardless of the little troubles that we were trying 
to settle. Darkness fell upon the scene, and pre- 
vented the enemy from taking further advantage 
of their success, giving us a chance to repair our 
disasters. 

Few of us slept during this night. Our division 
went back and was put in position on Cemetery 
Kidge by General Hancock, who all the night 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 83 

Ion Of labored to streno^tlien this line. The men 
gathered rocks and fence-rails, and used them to 
erect a light breastwork. Had the necessary tools 
been distributed to the troops, we could have 
intrenched this line and made it formidable ; but 
we could not find a pick or a shovel, and the 
w^orks that we did attempt were very light — 
scarcely sufficient to stop a musket-ball. During 
the whole night, mounted officers galloped to and 
fro, and troops were hurried to important points. 
At the first faint gray of the morning of July 3d, 
the fight was resumed on Gulp's Hill, where dark- 
ness had interrupted it the night before, and from 
then until long after daylight the firing was heavy 
and incessant. We knew that Slocum was trying 
to drive the enemy out of our w^orks, which they 
had slept in and occupied without invitation the 
night before. Gulp's Hill w^as about a mile from 
where we lay, and we could hear the cheers of 
Geary's men, which came to us on the morning 
air, mingled with some rebel bullets, which had 
missed the mark for which they were intended, 
and, almost spent, went singing over our heads. 
As the day advanced, sounds of the artillery 
mingled with the musketry, and w^e knew that 



84 GEI!^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

a hard iiglit was in progress. Tbe men of our 
line almost held their breath with anxiety. About 
nine o'clock the firing suddenly ceased. A tre- 
mendous cheer went up, and a minute later every 
man in the army knew that we were again in 
possession of Gulp's Hill. Then came a few hours 
of peace, a perfect calm. From Cemetery Hill to 
Round Top not a movement had been observed, or 
a shot fired, all the luoi'nino;. 

About noon we could see considerable activity 
along Seminary Ridge. Battery after battery 
appeared along the edge of the woods. Guns 
Avere unlimbered, placed in position, and the 
horses taken to the rear. On our side, officers sat 
around in groups and, through field-glasses, 
anxiously watched these movements, in our front, 
and Avondered Avhat it all meant. Shortly after 
one o'clock, however, we knew all about it. The 
head-quarter wagons had just come up, and Genei'al 
Gibbons had invited Hancock and staff to partake 
of some lunch. The bread that Avas handed around 
— if it ever Avas eaten — Avas consumed Avithout 
butter, for as the orderly Avas passing the latter 
article to the gentlemen, a shell from Seminary 
Ridge cut him in two. Instantly the air Avas 



GEIS^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 85 

filled with bursting shells. The batteries that we 
had been ^vatching for the last two hours going 
into position in our front did not open singly or 
spasmodically. The whole hundred and twenty 
guns, whicli now began to play upon us, seemed 
to be discharged simultaneously, as though by 
electricity. And then for nearly two. hours the 
storm of death went on. I have read many 
accounts of this artillery duel ; but the most 
graphic description by the most able writers falls 
far short of the reality. No tongue or pen can 
find language strong enough to convey any idea of 
its awfulness. Sti'eams of screaming j^rojectiles 
poured through the hot air, falling and bursting 
everywhere. Men and horses were torn limb from 
limb; caissons exploded one after another in rapid 
succession, blowing the gunners to pieces. No 
spot within our lines was free from this frightful 
iron rain. The infantry hugged close to the earth, 
and sought every close shelter that our light 
earth-works afforded. It was literally a storm 
of shot and shell that the oldest soldiers there — 
those who had taken part in almost every bat- 
tle of the war — had not yet witnessed. That 
awful rushing sound of the flying missiles, 



86 gejN^. winfield s. haycock. 

wliicli causes the firmest hearts to quail, is every- 
where. 

At this tumultuous moment we witness a 
deed of heroism such as we are apt to attribute 
only to the knights of olden time. Hancock, 
mounted and accompanied by his staff, Major 
Mitchell, Caj)tain Harry Bingham, Captain Isaac 
Parker, and Ca^^tain E. P. Bronson, wdth the 
cor]3s flag flying in the hands of a brave Irishman, 
Private James Wells, of the Sixth New York 
Cavalry, started at the right of his line, wdiere it 
joins the Taneytown road, and slowly rode along 
the terrible crest to the exti'eme left of his position, 
while shot and shell roared and crashed around 
him, and every moment tore great gaps in the 
ranks at his side. 

** Stormed at with shot and sliell, 
Boldly they rode, and well." 

It was a gallant deed, and withal not a reckless 
exposure of life ; f^' the presence and calm de- 
meanor of the commander as he j^assed through 
the lines of his men, set them an example which 
an hour later bore good fruit, and nerved their 



GEN. WIIS^FIELD S. HAITCOCK. 87 

stout hearts to win the greatest and 7nost decisive 
battle ever fought on this continent. For an hour 
after the firing began our batteries replied vigor- 
ously, and then ceased altogether ; but the rebel 
shells came as numerous as ever. Then, for over a 
half hour, not a soul was seen stirring in our line — 
w^e might have been an army of dead men for all 
the evidence of life visible. Suddenly the enemy 
stopped their fire, which had been going on for 
nearly two hours without intermission, and then 
the long lines of their infantry — eighteen thousand 
strong — emerged from the woods and began their 
advance. 

At this moment silence reigned along our whole 
line. With arms at a " right-shoulder shift," the 
divisions of Longstreet's corps moved forward 
with a precision that was wonderfully beautiful. 
It is now our turn, and the lines that a few mo- 
ments before seemed so still now teemed with ani- 
mation. Eighty of our guns open their brazen 
mouths; solid shot and shells are sent on their 
errand of destruction in quick succession. We see 
them fall in countless numbers among the advanc- 
ing troops. The accuracy of our fire could not be 
excelled; the missiles strike right in the ranks, 



88 GEN. WINFIELD S. HA]S^COCK. 

tearing and rending them in every direction. The 
ground over which they have passed is strewn 
Avith dead and wounded. But on they come. 
The gaps in the ranks are closed as soon as made. 
They have three-quarters of a mile to march, ex- 
posed to our fire, and half the distance is nearly 
l^assed. Our gunners now load with canister, and 
the effect is appalling ; but still they march on. 
Their gallantry is past all praise — it is sublime. 
Now they are within a hundred yards. Our in- 
fantry rise np and pour round after round into 
these heroic troops. 



CHAPTER IX. 

THE GALLANT MEN" OF THE SOUTH. 

At "Waterloo the Old Guard recoiled before a 
less severe fire. But there was no recoil in these 
men of the South — they marched right on as 
though they courted death. They concentrate in 
great numbers and strike on the most advanced 
part of our line. The crash of the musketry and 
the cheers of the men blend together. The Phila- 
delphia brigade occupies this point. They are fight- 
ing on their own ground and for their own State, 
and in the bloody hand-to-hand engagement which 
ensues, the Confederates, though fighting with des- 
perate valor, find it impossible to dislodge them 
— they are rooted to the ground. Seeing how 
utterly hopeless further effort would be, and 
knowing the impossibility of reaching their lines 
should they attempt a retreat, large numbers of 
the rebels lay do^vn their arms and the battle is 
won. To the left of the Philadelj^hia brigade we 

89 



90 GElSr. WINFIELD S. HA]S"COCK. 

did not get to sucli close quarters. Seeing the 
utter annihilation of Pickett's trooj^s, the division 
of Wilcox and others on their right went to pieces 
almost before they got within musket range. A 
few here and there ran away and tried to regain 
their lines, but many laid down their arms and 
came in as prisoners. At the most critical mo- 
ment, Hancock fell, among his men, on the line of 
Stannard's Vermont brigade, desperately wounded ; 
but he continued to direct the fight until victory 
was secured, and then he sent Major Mitchell to 
announce the glad tidings to the Commander of 
the Army. Said he: "Tell General Meade that 
the troops under my command have repulsed the 
assault of the enemy, who are now flying in all di- 
rections in my front." "Say to General Han- 
cock," said Meade, in reply, " I regret exceedingly 
that he is wounded, and that I thank him for the 
country and myself for the service he has ren- 
dered to-day." Truly, the country may thank 
General Hancock, as Congress afterward did, for 
his great service on that field. 

Five thousand prisoners were sent to the rear, 
and we gathered up thirty-three regimental stand- 
ards in front of the Second Corps. The remain- 



GEIS". WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 91 

ing hours of daylight cluriDg this day were oc- 
cupied in caring for the wounded, looking over 
the field, and talking over the incidents of the 
fight. Many noble officers and men were lost on 
both sides, and in the camp hospital they died in 
hundreds during the afternoon and night. The 
rebel General Armistead died in this way. As he 
was being carried to the rear he was met by Caj)- 
tain Harry Bingham, of Hancock's staff, who, get- 
ting off his horse, asked him if he could do any- 
thing for him. Armistead requested him to take 
his watch and spurs to' General Hancock, that 
they might be sent to his relatives. His wishes 
were comj)lied with. General Hancock sending 
them to his friends the first opportunity. Armi- 
stead was a brave soldier, with a most chivalric 
presence, and came forward in front of his bri- 
gade, waving his s\vord. He was shot through the 
body and fell inside of our lines. Some of the 
wounded rebels showed considerable animosity 
toward our men. One of them, who lay mortally 
wounded in front of the Sixty-ninth Pennsylvania, 
sullenly refused to be taken to the hospital, saying 
that he wanted to die ris^ht there on the field 
where he fell. The scene aftej* Longstreet's charge 



92 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

was indescribable. In front of the Pliiladelpliia 
brigade the dead Lay in great heaps. Dismounted 
guns, ruins of exploded caissons, dead and muti- 
lated men and horses, were piled up together in 
every direction. 

The Colonel of one of Pickett's regiments lay 
dead, his arms clas23ing the body of his brother, 
who was Major of his regiment. They were singu- 
larly handsome men, and greatly resembled each 
other. Out on the field, where Longstreet's corps 
had passed, thousands of wounded were lying. We 
had no means of reaching these poor fellows, and 
many of them lay there between the lines until 
the morning of the 5th. On the 4th we lay quiet- 
ly all day, awaiting the next event. The 
enemy could be seen moving around on Semi- 
nary Ridge. AVelcome supplies came up and were 
issued. All hands felt cheerful, but a degree of 
uncertainty as to whether the battle was over, or 
whether the enemy were getting ready for some 
new movement, prevented us from celebrating the 
National Anniversary in a proper manner. Once in 
a while the sharpshooters would try their skill on 
some of our people, to let us know they were still 
there. The stench from the dead became almost 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 93 

intolerable, and we tried to escape it by digging 
up the ground, and burying our faces in the fresh 
earth. On the morning of the 5th, we found that 
the enemy had gone, and then what a scene ! I 
think the fact was first discovered by the troops 
on Gulp's Hill, and oh ! what a cheer went up — a 
cheer that swelled into a roar, and was taken up 
by the boys on Cemetery Hill, rolled along the 
crest to Round Top, and back again. Cheers for 
the Philadelphia brigade, that stood a living wall, 
ao-ainst which the hosts beat in vain. Cheers for 
Meade, the soldier " without fear or reproach," 
who here began, with a great victory, his illustri- 
ous career as Commander of the Army of the Po- 
tomac. Cheers for Hancock, who had stemmed 
the tide of defeat on the first day, and selected the 
ground on which this glorious victory was achieved; 
who on the second day had again stopped the tide 
of rebel victory, and restored our shattered lines, 
and, on the third day, had met and repulsed the 
final assault, on which Lee's all was staked, and 
won the battle that was really the death-blow to 
the Rebellion. 



CHAPTER X. 

HANCOCK THE ORATOR. 

On Marcli 8, 1864, was held at Tammany Hall, 
in New York, a public meeting, the object of 
which was to recruit the corps commanded by 
Gen. Hancock. Mr. Elijah F. Purdy, the well- 
known war-horse of the Democracy, took the 
chair. Amons; those who contributed letters to 
the proceedings was Gen. Dix. Gen. Thomas 
Francis Meagher, Gen. Carl Schurz, Gen. Viele, 
and Mr. James T. Brady made effective and elo- 
quent addresses. 

Gen. Hancock said : 

I am highly honored by the invitation to meet 
so many of the citizens of New York on this occa- 
sion, in this ancient temple of the Democi'acy. I 
am delighted to accompany on the war-j^ath that 
element of the political parties of the country 
which has heretofore been so successful in shaping 
its destinies. With the assistance of the powers 

94 



GE1S-. WINEIELD S. HAIN^COCK. 95 

beyond, tliere sliould be no siicli word as failure in 
any ojDeration, not even tliat of putting down by 
force of arms the existing gigantic Eebellion against 
the Constitutional rule of the Government. 
[Cheers.] We have come here to-night, not to talk 
of peace — for, in the opinion of practical men, that 
time has passed. We find a Rebellion on our hands 
of j)roportions not equaled in modern times. We 
have not met here to discuss the manner of putting 
it down. That, men sensitive of honor have de- 
cided, can only be done by blows. We have been 
engaged in that operation for a considerable time, 
and are determined to persevere in it until the de- 
sired result is obtained. We know, also, that our 
integrity and . honor are at stake in carrying it 
through to a successful issue. We are here to- 
night for war, and, when war has performed its 
part, we then will leave it to those to discuss the 
terms of peace whom the Constitution of the 
country has invested with that power, and our 
terms of peace are the integrity of and obedience 
to the civil laws of the land. [Great cheering.] 
Our armies have been prosperous, as can be readily 
seen by looking at the map of tlie country occu- 
pied by the contending forces ; but the Rebellion 



96 GEN. WINFIELD S. HAI^COCK. 

is gaining heart by the distractions among our 
people, caused by unpatriotic factions, and by the 
sympathies of the disloyal among us, and is de- 
termined to make one grand effort to force us back. 
It will probably be the last. [Great applause.] 
To make it sure that the enemy shall not resist 
our triumphant march, it is necessary for us to give 
to the Government a sufficient force to make such 
a result impossible. With our great preponder- 
ance of population, it is easy for us to do so. 
With a great force on our side, this war will be 
short. Let us all, therefore, take a part, and the 
honor may be equally divided. No man can afford 
to be unpatriotic in time of war. That has been 
proven, and there are numbers of persons living 
who are evidences of the fact. Let every man, 
therefore, who values his honor and that of his 
children, enter the service of his country, if he is 
in circumstances to permit him to do so ; and, if 
not, let him, if possible, keep a representative in 
the field. For the mass of men, inducements to 
enter the service are now so great that no one need 
claim he should be exempt because they are not 
greater. Every one whose circumstances per- 
mitted him to shoulder a musket in this war, and 



GET^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 97 

has failed to do so, and those who have not done 
their duty at home in assisting to put men in the 
iield, will regret their want of action when peace 
again smiles over the country. Too late then for 
them to repair their error. Even their children 
will despise them, and woman, too, who judges 
man by his deeds, will smile upon only those who, 
in this war, have acted with manliness and patriot- 
ism. [Great cheering.] I have command of the 
Second Corps, composed of fifty regiments of vet- 
eran troops. They have trod the paths of glory 
so well, that no man need be afraid of going astray 
who may join them. Nineteen of these regiments 
are from your State, and thirteen from your 
city. Men entering either of those organiza- 
tions need not fear but on the march, and 
in camp, and in time of battle they will feel 
confidence in themselves from the fact of being 
surrounded by veterans so ready to share with 
them all the danger, and who Avill equally divide 
the honor, claiming no advantage on account of 
their greater experience. No one need fear that he 
will not make a good soldier. The man on his right 
and on his left will give him confidence. They 
have trod the paths of glory before. We 

7 



98 GEIf. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

have room for all nationalities. We have the 
Irish Brigade. [Cheers.] We have the German 
legions, and many others known to you by some 
means. We had a Tammany regiment also. 
[Cheers.] Any man can find in the New York 
City regiments of the Second Corps, companions who 
sympathize with him. There are places for all. 
Let them come. I will also say to the representa- 
tives of the sturdy class which form the backbone 
of our army, that no men are more deeply inter- 
ested in this war than themselves. If the Gov 
ernment is preserved, they will preserve their liber 
ties, and the result to them may be a sad experi- 
ence if the Government should fail in putting 
down the Rebellion for the want of strono; arms. 
Come, then, and join the force in the field. Come 
now, for you are wanted. The veterans, by re-en- 
listing, have set an example well worth following. 
Their acts show their confidence in the future. 
[Cheers.] 



CHAPTEE XL 

SUBSEQUENT ACTIVE SERVICES IN THE FIELD. 

In March, 1864, Gen. Hancock returned to the 
field and took command of his old corps. The 
last great campaign of the war was at hand, and 
he prepared himself for the struggle. With the 
ranks of the Second Corps well recruited through 
his efforts at the North, and with his command 
still further increased by the addition of the gallant 
old Third Corps, making in all upward of fifty 
thousand men, he became again the most conspicu- 
ous figure in the Battle of the Wilderness, on the 
5th, 6th, and 7th of May. In this bloody engage- 
ment, commenced on the second anniversary of the 
day at Williamsburg when he won his first re- 
nown, Hancock again displayed his old tactics of 
repelling the enemy by a counter-charge at the 
crisis of the fight, and again, to steady and encour- 
age his troops, threw himself among them, sword 
in hand, and exposed himself like the veriest gren- 

99 



100 GEI^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 



adier. On tlie lOth, at tlie engagement of tlie 
" Po," lie commanded the Second and Fifth corps 
and made an assault on the enemy's lines at 
Allsop's House, near Spottsylvania. On the 12th, 
in immediate command of the Second Corps, he ac- 
complished one of the most brilliant and success- 
ful feats of the war. The enemy occupied a 
strongly intrenched position at Spottsylvania, but, 
notwithstanding the advantage of ground pos- 
sessed, it was necessary to carry it at whatever 
cost. He ordered his corps to make the assault at 
daylight. Fortunately, favored by a dense fog, a 
partial surprise was effected, the position was 
carried with a rush, and five thousand prisoners, 
twenty pieces of artillery, thirty stands of colors, 
and several thousand muskets were the fruits of 
the victory. It was a most disastrous blow to 
Lee, and without doubt it contributed more than 
any single achievement of the campaign to the 
ultimate success of the Union cause. A rebel 
Major-General, with nearly his entire division, was 
captured. Among the Brigadiers taken was Gen. 
George H. Stewart, an acquaintance of Gen. Han- 
cock, and a former Regular Army officer. This 
person was ushered into Gen. Hancock's presence. 



GEI^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 101 

The latter, with characteristic frankness, offered his 
prisoner his hand with the remark, " Stewart, I'm 
glad to see you." Stewart, who was afflicted with 
overwhelming ideas of his own importance, draw- 
ing himself up, said, " Under the circumstances, 
sir, I cannot take your hand." With quiet com- 
posure. Gen. Hancock replied: "Under any other 
circumstances, sir, I would not hav^e offered you my 
hand." In this retort the character of the man re- 
vealed itself in its most attractive colors. He re- 
spected misfortune in any man. On the 18th, Gen. 
Hancock again assaulted the enemy's lines near 
Spottsylvania ; on the 19th he repelled an attack 
in force by E well's Corps, on Tyler's Division of 
the Second Corps, Ewell losing several hundred 
men, and being driven by Hancock's counter-attack 
across the Nye Kiver in great disorder. On the 
23d and 24th of May he engaged the enemy on 
the North Anna, and fought again at Tolopotomy 
on the 29th, 30th, and 31st. At the dreadful en- 
gagement at Coal Harbor, June 3d, he was again 
engaged, and took prominent part in the operations 
before the enemy's works at that place up to June 
1 2th. The army having crossed the James, on the 
15th, 16th, and l7th of June he was actively en- 



102 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

gaged in the assaults on the enemy's works before 
Petersburg. But the hardships of the campaign 
had the effect of reopening the wound received at 
Gettysburg, and on the evening of the 17th of 
June his iron constitution broke down, and he was 
compelled, with the greatest reluctance, to turn 
over the command of his corps, though he did not 
leave the field. During the greater part of the 
campaign, indeed, he had suffered the most intense 
pain, being compelled to occupy an ambulance 
during the march, and only mounting his horse 
when his troops came in contact with the enemy. 
The wound was in the upper part of the thigh. It 
had fractured and splintered the upper part of the 
femur, and at one time it was thought that his life 
could not be saved. A splendid constitution, how- 
ever, and the best surgical skill had brought him 
through the worst, and his entii'e recovery would 
have followed, had not his impatience to be with 
his command in the field prevailed over his judg- 
ment. The penalty for this he now had to pay by 
a brief retirement from the command of his corps. 
On the 27th of June, however, he again took com- 
mand, and participated in the operations before 
Petersburg until July 26th, when he crossed to 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 103 

the nortli side of the James Eiver, with his corps 
and a division of cavahy, and assaulted the enemy^s 
lines at Deep Bottom, capturing the outer works, 
200 prisoners, several stands of colors, and four 
pieces of artillery. On the 12th of August he was 
made Brigadier-General in the Eegular Army. On 
the same day, in command of his own, the Second 
Corps, the Tenth Corps, and a division of cavalry, 
he again assaulted the enemy's lines at Deep 
Bottom. The fighting was severe. A part of the 
enemy's works was carried, 300 prisoners, three 
stands of colors, and four howitzers being taken. 
On the 25th of August he fought the battle of 
Beams' Station, with two divisions of his own corps 
and a division of cavalry, against a greatly superior 
force of the enemy. Another horse was shot under 
him there. On the 27th of October, with the same 
force, he was engaged at Boydton Road, inflicting 
heavy loss in killed and wounded on the enemy, 
driving him from the field and capturing 1,000 
prisoners and two stands of colors. 



CHAPTER XII. 

THE CLOSE OF THE WAE. 

On the 26th of November, General Hancock 
was detached from the Army of the Potomac and 
ordered to Washington. There were then many 
veteran soldiers in the country, whose terms of 
service had expired, and the Government consid- 
ered the best means of callino; into the field this 
desirable element. Veteran soldiers having been 
once honorably discharged, hesitate to re-enter the 
service in regiments recruited since their own en- 
listments; so it was thought advisable to raise a 
corps which should consist of veterans alone. The 
man to whom the President first looked was, 
in regard both to the length and severit}^ of his 
service, the chief of all the veteran General Officers 
of the Army, and that man was General Hancock. 
It was determined to make this corps 50,000 
strong, and it was very justly believed that, with 

104 



GEN. WINFIELD S. IIAIS^COCK. 105 

Hancock at the head, of this oi'iranization, the old 
soldiers would at once flock to the standard, and 
the force be recruited in the shortest possible 
time. This idea proved a correct one. This ac- 
coin2)lished, General Hancock was again ordered 
to the front, in command of the Middle Military 
Division, and made his head-quarters at Winches- 
ter, the division embracing the departments of 
West Virginia, Pennsylvania, and Washington, 
and the force under his command including the 
Army of the Shenandoah, amounting to nearly one 
hundred thousand men of all branches of the ser- 
vice. With this force it was expected a decisive 
blow, in one direction or the other, would be 
struck, and General Hancock was under orders to 
be ready to move at a few hours' notice, either on 
Lynchburg, to co-operate with the Army of the 
Potomac, or to take transports for the Southern 
coast, to co-operate with General Sherman, as the 
exigencies of the campaign should demand. The 
sudden breaking of Lee's lines at Petersburg, and 
the surrender at Appomatox, rendered neither of 
these movements necessary. 

This, the last part of his active military service, 
while marked with no shock of opposing forces, 



106 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

was, nevertheless, destined to be a j^eriod of great 
excitement to himself as well as to the country. 
While his head-quarters were still in the Valley of 
the Shenandoah, in April, 1865, the conspirators 
against the lives of the President and his Cabinet 
consummated, in part, their plot, and President 
Lincoln was murdered. Secretary Seward was near- 
ly stabbed to death, and the country was panic- 
stricken by the sudden evidence of a widespread, 
deep-laid plot to destroy the entire Government 
by the dastardly and barbarous method of se- 
cret and concerted assassination. The millions 
who still live to remember that day will testify 
that the Northern people were never before so 
shaken and unnerved, even when confronted with 
the severest disasters in the field as on that dread- 
ful Friday, in April, 1865. It seemed to most 
patriotic peoj^le as though the sun of liberty had 
gone into perpetual eclij^se. A feeling of such 
universal fear and distrust pervaded the nation, 
that men looked in each other's faces with the de- 
spair which comes over the soul when nature ex- 
periences some awful cataclysm, and when there 
is no longer any hope for mankind. Happily, this 
feeling was only temporary, but while it lasted it 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 107 

was universal and real. General Hancock was 
summoned at once to Washino-ton. The extent of 
the conspiracy soon became known, and the meas- 
ures taken by him to confront the secret peril were 
thorough, and contributed greatly to allay the ter- 
ror. When Hancock's presence in Washington 
was known over the country, as it soon was an- 
nounced by telegrciph, men said to each other, 
" Thank God, a man is in Washington now who can 
be trusted in any emergency." General Hancock 
remained in Washington, by order of President 
Johnson, during the days of the trial of the conspir- 
ators, and until after their execution. Much inter- 
est has been exhibited in this part of his service, 
and the prominence of his position has, in the minds 
of some ignorant people, made his connection with 
the execution of the prisoners more intimate than 
is true. It must be remembered that he was in 
command of a force in and about the Capitol, of 
about one hundred thousand men, having, practi- 
cally, only the Secretary of War and the President 
as his superiors. With the details of the guarding 
and care of the prisoners he had nothing whatever 
to do. They were confined in the Arsenal, and the 
commander there was General Hartranft, wlio took 



108 GEN. WINFIELD S. HAI^OOCK. 

the position by order of the Secretary of War. A 
military commission, ordered by the President, 
tried the prisoners, found them guilty, condemned 
some of them to death, and the findings of the mil- 
itary court were approved by the President. It 
was unquestionably to be lamented that they 
should have been thus tried. The conviction of 
the guilty could in all probability have been effect- 
ed by a jury. But the nation was in a bloody 
struggle for existence, and martial law prevailed, 
for our armies were yet in the field. It was par- 
ticularly to be lamented that one of the condemn- 
ed persons was a woman, and the regret is the 
deeper when, in calmer times, people who consid- 
ered the case carefully ai'e convinced that, so far 
as the crime of assassination was concerned, she 
was guiltless. The execution had been ordered 
for the 8th day of July. On the 6th, Messrs. Ai- 
ken and Clampitt, the counsel of Mrs. Surratt, went 
before United States Justice Wylie and procured 
a writ of habeas corpxis. This was served by the 
Marshal of the district on General Hancock as the 
military head of the division. As was his duty, 
he forwarded it to his superior, the President of 
the United States, and the Commander in Chief. 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 109 

President Johnson at once issued the following 
proclamation : 

Executive Office, July 7. 
" To Major- General Hancock^ Commander^ etc. : 

"I, Andrew Johnson, President of the United 
States, do hereby declare that the writ of habeas 
corpus has been heretofore suspended in such cases 
as this ; and I do hereby especially suspend this 
writ, and direct that you proceed and execute the 
order heretofore given you upon the judgment of 
the military commission, and you will give this 
order in return to this writ." 

This was indorsed on the writ, and, accompanied 
by United States Attorney-General Speed, Gene- 
ral Hancock presented himself before Justice Wy- 
lie, and made return to the document. The exe- 
cution took place the following day. General 
Hancock saw that the only hope for Mrs. Surratt 
lay in the power of her daughter to move the Pres- 
ident's heart, and he so informed her, and gave 
her every facility in his power to gain access to the 
President, So great was his anxiety in regard to the 
looked-for pardon or reprieve that he placed a line 
of mounted sentinels from the White House to the 



110 GEIi. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

place of execution, that the words of grace, if 
spoken at the last minute, should go surely and 
swiftly. But no such words were spoken, and to 
the now almost universal regret of the people, 
Mrs. Surratt died. 

In the latter part of July, 1865, General Han- 
cock was j)romoted to the command of the Middle 
Department, with head-quarters at Baltimore, hav- 
ing previously been brevetted Major-General in 
the Regular Army for " gallant and meritorious 
services at Spottsylvania." In July, 1866, he re- 
ceived the full grade of Major-General in the Army, 
and assumed command of the Department of Mis- 
souri, conducting several imj^ortant and arduous 
campaigns against the hostile Indians in Kansas, 
Colorado, and the Indian Territory. With his 
command of the Department of Missouri his more 
active military life may be said to have ceased, 
and his civil services for his country to have com- 
menced. Although briefer in regard to time, and 
unattended with exposure and personal danger, 
they were of the highest importance to the welfare 
of the country, and alone would entitle him to the 
renown of a statesman and a benefactor of his ao^e. 



CHAPTER XIII. 

JOHN- W. FORNEY 0]Sr GETTYSBURG AND MRS. SUR- 

ratt's execution. 

Mr. John W. Forney, the veteran journalist 
and politician, and tireless commentator on public 
men and affairs, needs no introduction. A Repub- 
lican — read what he says : 

To show how I felt at the critical moment, 
seventeen years ago, I reprint what I wrote in The 
Press on Tuesday, the 7th of July, 1863, not only 
to prove my plain duty to General Hancock, as 
the survivor of this glorious triumvirate, but also 
the duty of all the people of Philadelphia to that 
incomparable soldier. I recall it at once as a per- 
sonal pledge and promise, and the solemn covenant 
of a great community to a great soldier. 

" Meanwhile, the Army of the Potomac, suddenly 
placed under the command of General Meade, 
whom we are proud to claim as a fellow-citizen, 
hastened northward, and fell upon the rash and 

111 



112 GEK. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

audacious enemy. We know the result. Neither 
our cliildren^ nor our chiklreii's cliildreii, to the re- 
motest generation^ shall ever for cjet it^ or fail to re- 
member it with a thrill of gratitude and honest 
pride. The rebels were assailed with unexampled 
fury, and the gallant General Reynolds, a Penn- 
sylvania soldier, laid down his life. The struggle 
raged for several days, the losses on both sides 
were fearful, ami still the result seemed douhtftil. 
If we should fail^ Washington^ Baltimore^ Phila- 
delphia^ perhaps JSfeiv Yor\ would he doomed. In 
this crisis of the nat loft's fate, it ivas Pennsylvania 
that came to the rescue. IT WAS GENERAL 
HANCOCK, A PENNSYLVANIAN, WHO SO 
NOBLY BORE THE BRUNT OF THE BAT- 
TLE ON CEMETERY HILL." 

The veterans of his old army corps, and of the 
. Pennsylvania Reserves, Democrats and Republi- 
cans, officers and men, regard Hancock with the 
admiration that the Old Guard felt for Murat. 
They were alike in personal beauty and splendid 
horsemanship, only Hancock was more cultivated, 
polite, and scholarly. How the greater chiefs re- 
garded him, let the General of all the armies of 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 113 

the Eepublic answer. Last Thursday, June 2tl:th, 
1880, General Sherman said to one of the news- 
paper reporters of Washington: "_Z/^ you will sit 
dowti and write the best tiling that can he jput in 
language about General Hancock as an officer and 
a gentleman^ I will sign it ivithoiit hesitation,^'' 

General Hancock was one of the favorites of 
Abraham Lincoln. Even the saturnine and ex- 
actino; Stanton was his friend. To me Hancock 
was more than attractive. I had know^n his blood; 
his brothers, his associates, his comrades in arms, 
and whenever I had a party at my rooms on Capi- 
tol Hill, he was there if he was in Washington ; 
he and such men as Sickles, E-awlings, George H. 
Thomas, Senator Chase, Mr. Seward, Judge Holt, 
Sumner, Ben Wade, General Butler, General 
Meade, General Eeynolds, and the whole galaxy 
of patriots. We did not think of politics in those 
days. We were, to use the blazing watch-word of 
Douglas in 1861, *'we were all patriots;" and if 
Hancock was liked a little better than others, it 
was because, while he fought like a lion for the 
old flao;, he never denied that he was a Democrat. 
I believe he and Grant have had a difference in 
military matters ; but a little incident of rather 



114 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

recent occurrence will show liow Hancock feels in 
rei^ard to his old commander. We were actins; as 
pall-bearers at the funeral of poor Scott Stuart, 
who died in London in the winter of 1878, and 
was buried in Philadelphia a few weeks after. As 
we were riding to the grave, one of the company 
broke out in very angry denunciation of General 
Grant, and, according to a habit never to allow an 
absent friend to be assailed in my presence, I 
warmly and promptly defended the ex-President. 
I cannot give General Hancock's words, but he 
was courteous and dignified in seconding my opin- 
ions, and in expressing his regret that the scene 
had taken place in his presence. I was also in 
Washington during Mrs. Surratt's trial and execu- 
tion as a participant in the murder of Abraham 
Lincoln, and can bear personal testimony to the 
manly bearing of General Hancock, who was the 
military officer in command of the National Capi- 
tal in 1865. The attempt to arouse Catholic hos- 
tility to him because he carried out the orders of 
the Government, President Andrew Johnson, and 
Secretary of War Stanton, is one of the worst ex- 
hibitions of party defamation, and disgraces all 
who are eno:ao:ed in it. He did not hesitate to 



GEI^. WIXFIELD S. HAIS^COCK. 115 

express liis repugnance at the fearful duty forced 
upon him. Nobody in Washington had any 
doubt about his sentiments fifteen years ago. 
Hence, when Judge Clampitt, now of Chicago, Mrs. 
Surratt's leading counsel in 1865, conies forth as 
he does in Don Piatt's Washington Capital^ and 
states as follows, he does what is equally well 
known to myself: 

" Hancock," continued Judge Clampitt, " had no 
more to do with these details or matters than you 
had. When Judge Wylie, with a Eoman majesty 
of character issued, almost at the peril of his life, 
the writ of liaheas coitus in the case of Mrs. Sur- 
ratt. President Johnson and Secretary Stanton de- 
cided to suspend the writ, and the execution fol- 
lowed. 

" We had hopes to the last of a reprieve and a 
pardon for Mrs. Surratt, and I waited at the arse- 
nal, hoping against hope. General Hancock rode 
down, and approaching him I asked, ' Are there 
any hopes ? ' He shook his head slowly and 
mournfully, and, with a sort of gasping catch in 
his speech, said : ' I am afraid not. No ; there is 
not.' 



116 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

" He then walked off a bit — he had dismounted 
— and gave some orders to his orderlies, and 
walked about for a moment or two. Keturning, 
he said to me : 

" ' I have been in many a battle, and have seen 
death, and mixed with it in disaster and in victory. 
I've been in a living hell of fire, and shell, and 
grape-shot, and, by God ! I'd sooner be there ten 
thousand times over than to p-ive the order this 
day for the execution of that poor woman. But I 
am a soldier, sworn to obey, and obey I must.' 

" This is the true and genuine history of all that 
Hancock had in common with the affair. He was 
commanding, and as commander and conservator 
of the National Capital, was compellantly obedient 
to the orders of the Court which sentenced the 
conspirators and the so-called conspirator to death. 
He had no voice in the matter, and could have no 
action save as the a2:ent to see that the letter of 
the law was carried out in an order of alphabetic 
certainty." 

Calumny of any kind on General Hancock is a 
bad crutch to help the ambition of weak men. It 
is the last resort of imbecile partisanship, and will 



GEN. WIKFIELD S. HANCOCK. 117 

Lave no more effect than if it were employed to 
scandalize the dead President Johnson or the dead 
Secretary Stanton. It is like the attempt to say 
that his nomination is his surrender to the South 
he conquered, which would be like saying that 
when a great soldier receives the highest honors 
from those he had taken prisoners in battle, he has 
become their prisoner in turn. Considering that 
we Republicans have been trying to get the South 
to support our candidates for the last fifteen years, 
this logic is very lame indeed. 



CHAPTER Xiy. 

WADE HAMPTON EXPRESSES THE FEELING OF THE 
SOUTH TO HANCOCK. 

Before presenting the history of General 
Hancock's civil administration, which is chiefly 
documentary, and therefore strictly accurate, I 
shall here incorporate some contributions of 
Southern and Northern statesmen, the former to 
show how keenly was the suffering of the Southern 
people from military oppression subsequent to the 
war, notwithstanding their re-asserted loyalty to 
the Union; the latter to exhibit the temper of Ju- 
dicially-minded publicists and Jurists, whose fame 
is international. 

And it is well here to remember that it Avas 
General Hancock who first coined and bequeathed 
to the English language the term Caiyet-hagger. As 
Roget says, " An artful watchword, thrown among 
combustible material, has changed the destiny of 
an empire." 

118 



GEIT. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 119 

Columbia, S. C, July lOtli, 1880. 

My Deae Sir : 

In accordance with your request, I give you a 
few of the many reasons which would render the 
election of General Hancock of incalculable bene- 
fit to the whole country, and which make his 
candidacy so acceptable to the South. In the 
great upheaval that followed the war, the Southern 
people realized that their only safeguard was a 
return to constitutional methods and limitations. 

They naturally placed no confidence in a party 
whose leaders did not hesitate to dechu'e that 
they " were camping outside of the Constitution," 
and they turned quite as naturally to that other 
great party, which, while insisting on the recog- 
nition and enforcement of all the legitimate results 
of the war, upheld that instrument as the supreme 
law of the land. 

The South, as a rule, has always been Demo- 
cratic, and it should be borne in mind that when 
the " Solid South" is held up as a menace to the 
North, there is no sense in the foolish catchword. 
The South is not solid against the North, nor 
against the Government, nor against the Consti- 



120 OEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

tution. It is simply solid in its adherence to the 
party to which it has always given its allegiance, 
and to those principles which have been main- 
tained and illustrated by that party. The jDressins^ 
needs of the South are peace, self-government, 
home rule, and settled, well-regulated systems of 
polity. Every thoughtful man must know that 
the bitter sectional feeling which has been so 
sedulously cultivated by the Republican party 
since the war, has, more than all other causes 
combined, not only kept alive the bitter animosities 
of the past, but injured the material and political 
interests of the country. The South not only 
realizes this fact, but she has been taught to feel 
it by sad experience. Hence it has been her 
sincere desire, her earnest effort, to restore har- 
mony between the different sections of the country. 
Since the war, her sole object in every Demo- 
cratic Convention has been to try to ascertain 
what candidate would be most acceptable to the 
North ern wing of the party ; and she has always 
come to the support of such candidate, cordially 
and heartily. She seeks only the success of the 
Democratic party — not from any sectional or selfish 
motive, but because she looks to that party for 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 121 

the permanent pacification and tlie enduring pros- 
perity of tlie whole country. In the late Con- 
vention at Cincinnati, it was noticeable that the 
South had no candidate of her own to present, nor 
did she press the claims of any special favorite. 
There was even no concentration of her votes upon 
any one, and she was only anxious to secure such 
a nomination as would insure victory to the Demo- 
cratic party, and give peace to the whole country. 
"When the indications pointed to Hancock as the 
man to effect these objects, the Southern delegates 
came to his support with unanimity and enthu- 
siasm. The Southern people will support him as 
a Presidential candidate in the same spirit, for 
they recognize him as one of the highest types of 
the American soldier and citizen — a soldier with- 
out fear and without reproach — whose sword has 
always been at his country's service ;' a citizen 
who, when that sword was slieathed, bowed his 
head to the majesty of the law. They remember 
that when he was placed in command of several 
great States of this Union, he exercised the almost 
unrestricted power of his position not tyrannically, 
but humanely ; that he gave to the citizens of 
those States the protection of the Constitution, and 



122 GEN. WIIN^FIELD S. HAT^COCK. 

that lie ruled, not by martial, but by civil law. 
This honorable conduct on his part has won the 
respect and admiration, not only of the South, but 
of the whole country, and men of all sections and 
of all parties look forward to his election with the 
confident assurance that it will give peace to the 
whole country ; that it will restore to the Govern- 
ment the dignity and the integrity it possessed 
of old ; and that it will bury forever that fell 
spirit of sectionalism which has been the curse of 
our country. The people recall the brave and 
statesmanlike words uttered by Hancock in 1867, 
when he was about to assume command in Louisi- 
ana, and they believe that the patriotism which 
inspired these words will guide him in the 
elevated position to which he will soon be called. 
*'My highest desire," he then said, "will be to 
perform the duties of my new sphere — not in the 
interest of parties or of partisans, but for the 
benefit of my countr}^, the honor of my profession, 
and, I trust also, for the welfare of the people 
committed to my care." Fresh as he was from the 
great Civil War, he could jet express a hope that 
he might discharge his duties "for the welfare of 
the people committed to my care." But before he 



GEX. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 123 

uttered these kind words, his competitor for the 
exalted position of President, General Garfield, 
had made his memorable declaration in Congress, 
that " anything is just which excludes from privilege 
and power all those infamous men who partici- 
pated in Rebellion.'' Between the soldier who 
fou":ht onlv for the restoration of the Union, the 
supremacy of the Constitution, and the equality 
of all the States, and the staff-officer who advocates 
the disfranchisement of all who opposed hhn, and 
the perpetual degradation and humiliation of the 
Southern people, there can be little hesitation as 
to choice. We cannot grasp the hand of Garfield 
on the terms he has laid down, but we can take 
that of the brave soldier Hancock, who, successful 
in war, was magnanimous in peace. 

I am very respectfully yours, 

Wade Hampton. 

Alvan S. Southworth, Esq. 



CHAPTER XV. 

SOUTHERN HOPES AND ASPIRATIONS. 

The Hon. Roger A. Piyor, a General in the Con- 
federate cause, and outspoken in the House of 
Representatives, before the out break of the Civil 
War, as a pronounced advocate of extreme South- 
ern ideas, has furnished the author with his views 
in regard to the loyalty of the South to the Union 
touchino^ the Presidential canvass. Comins^ from 
the source they do, expressed in language so elo- 
quent and sincere, these words, from a stout spirit 
and a warm heart, touch closely the professions 
and deeds of men like Lamar, Hampton, Gordon, 
and Alexander H. Stephens, who were whelmed 
in the bloody storm of 1860-61. Need the North 
fear such men as he ? Read : 

With the people of the South, affection for the 
Union was a sentiment of ancestral pride, as well 
as a principle of traditional policy ; and only by 
the urgency of some casual and extraordinary 

134 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 125 

crisis could they ever have been precipitated into 
Secession. Tliey went about to erect a separate 
government for themselves — not from an impulse 
? of hostility to the Union, but from an attachment 
to principles they had been taught to think para- 
mount to the Union itself ; and in parting from 
the Union, they felt all the pangs of violated 
nature, as well as the griefs of baffled hope. But 
now, that slavery no longer impinges on their un- 
derstanding with a sinister bias, and the idol of 
State sovereignty no longer challenges of them a 
divided duty, love of the Union resumes its orig- 
inal ascendancy in their hearts; the beneficence 
of the Union claims a supreme consideration in 
their counsels. 

Be assured, Southern statesmanship is not so 
blinded in its proverbial sagacity as not to see that, 
henceforth, the strength and security of the South 
are to be found only under the shield of the 
Union. Against the perils of foreign invasion it 
gains in the Union the bulwark of a mighty pres- 
tige and an invincible Army. As a guaranty of 
peace between its discordant peoples, the ever- 
imminent intervention of the Federal arm will 
operate to deter the unruly and to tranquilize the 



126 gej^. wit^field s. hai^cock. 

timid. Freedom, and facility of access to every 
part of tills vast and opulent land, oj)ens to tlie 
enterprise of the Soutli a boundless field of ad- 
venture, and imparts to its industrial and commer- 
cial energies a quickening im2:)ulse of development 
and fruition. Meanwhile, an expedient recoils 
upon its source, and, by augmenting the political 
power of the South, enables its aspiring spirits to 
play a splendid and superior part on the theater 
of Federal affairs. 

If, in contrast with the brilliant future offered 
to the South in the Union, you contemplate for a 
moment the destiny to which it would be con- 
demned by another civil convulsion, caused by 
another revolt against the Federal power — the 
havoc and carnage of a war, aggravated by a con- 
flict between races, and issuing inevitably in the 
catastrophe of a remoi*seless subjugation — you can- 
not, on the supposition that the Southern people 
are rational beings, impute to them any other 
policy or purpose than to cling to the Union, 
as their only and all-sufficient shelter and sup- 
port. 

No blame, then, for that stupendous folly, the 
War of the Secession, attaches to the men who bore 



Q^N. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 127 

its l)runt. The politician began it; the soldier 
only ended it. And during its progress, whatever 
of barbarity aggravated its essential ills is imput- 
able, not to the fighting man, but to the civilian. 
Clemency, no less than courage, is the ornament of 
true knighthood ; but while the soldier's spirit is 
exalted by the ambition of glorious deeds, the 
politician stoops to mean resentments and ig- 
noble reprisals. For those acts of vengeance, of 
which each side hastens now to exculpate itself to 
history — over which it behooves both to drop the 
veil of oblivion — for those dastardly and despica- 
ble inhumanities the men of the Cabinet are ac- 
countable ; and the luster of Hancock's and Lee's 
renown is untarnished by the atrocities of the 
prison camp. The columns of neither Army, in 
their intrepid onset, were inflamed by the incite- 
ments of passion ; but in the fury of the combat, 
feelino: still for his foe the affection of a former 
and future brother, the soldier gladly sheathed his 
sword from its bloody execution. In every pause 
of battle, the contending hosts intermingled, and 
for their involuntary cruelties made atonement by 
an eager interchange of the charities of humanity. 
On the field of Antietam, while the carnage stayed, 



128 GEN. WINFIELD S. HAI^COCK. 

that the wounded and dying might be taken 
away from the dreadful scene^ a Confederate Gen- 
eral and your own gallant Meagher grasped hands 
in pledge of a friendship the shock of war could 
not break asunder, and* in instinctive but un- 
spoken presage of a community of country that re- 
turning peace should restore and j)erpetuate. 

And so with all. Call the roll of fighting men, 
whether in the Army or the Navy, and mark one 
known to fame who was not the friend of peace 
— the advocate of conciliation. The soldier is a 
patriot from necessity — by the habits of educa- 
tion, and by the instincts of honor, which to him 
are the principles gf nature. Identified with the 
fortunes of no party, implicated in the intrigues 
of no faction, he looks to the country for the recog- 
nition and reward of his valor. Meaning himself 
to fight if peace be impossible, and well aware that 
war is the consummation of human woe, he shrinks 
T)ack from the dread arbitrament till duty bids 
him draw his sword. 



CHAPTER XVI. 

HATTCOCK AS KNOWN TO DAVID DAVIS, CHAELES FRAN- 
CIS ADAMS, DAVID DUDLEY FIELD, ALGERNON S. 
SULLIVAN, AND JOHN KELLY. 

The gentlemen whose contributions to this vol- 
ume are here inserted, represent every phase of 
party and independent action in national politics. 

They vary in religion, occupation, general views 
of public j)olicy, and come from widely-differing 
sections of the Union. They are distinct types of 
men. 

They are known from long service in j)ublic 
affairs. 

They are exponents of individual wealth, of 
judicial training, of diplomatic acuteness and tri- 
umph, of high forensic ability, of executive genius, 
and. rugged personal power. 

They have met as foes on many a hard-fought 
political field. 

They are an important part of the national life. 

9 139 



130 GE]^. WINFIELD S. HAITCOCK. 

Could tribute stronger, indorsement heartier, 
pledges sincerer, or appreciation warmer, be ex- 
pressed by men unaccustomed to indulge in ex- 
uberance of fancy or delirium of phrase ? These 
words of truth and soberness should be remem- 
bered by all. 

^ * ♦ ♦ * 

No candid man of any party Avill deny General 
Hancock's great services to the Union, or refuse 
to commend his admirable conduct when intrusted 
with the largest military power. 

David Davis. 

Bloomington, III., July 12, 1880. 



I propose to vote for General Hancock, because 
I cannot vote for my party which has been tainted 
by frauds in the last election. But I am too far 
advanced in life to think of treading over the bat- 
tle-fields again. 

Yours very truly, 

Chaeles Fkancis Adams. 

QuiNCY, Mass., July 5, 1880. 



General Hancock was one of a Court-martial, or 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 131 

rather a Court of Inquiry, in tlie case of General 
Dyer, Chief of Ordnance. The Court consisted of 
Gen. Thomas, Gen. Hancock, and Gen. Marcy. 
It sat for two months. I defended Gen. Dyer; 
and I can bear testimony to the high judicial 
qualities which Gen. Hancock showed on that oc- 
casion. I do not disparage the qualities of Gen. 
Thomas when 1 say — for I speak only of General 
Hancock — that I perceived he was more than a 
mere soldier. He has a w^dl-balanced mind and 
judgment of a superior order. 

Very truly yours, 

David Dudley Field. 

New York, July 20, 1880. 



New York, July 10, 1880. 
Dear Mr. Southworth : 

With some diffidence, I respond to your request 
in relation to your expected book, " The Life of 
General Hancock. " But how can any American 
withhold a grateful public tribute to him ? In 
times of peace, it has fallen to the lot of few men 
to hold unlimited power over States to which their 
civil law^s were to be restored, if at all, at his will 



133 GEN. AVINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

only. History Lardly has an instance where, in 
such a case, its possessor, declining to exercise 
his power, set up the civil law alcove the sword. 
General Hancock's example is one of the most 
notable and honoralde exceptions in public annals. 
But if I may emphasize that particular in his 
civil administration which sometimes seems to me 
to constitute his greatest public service, let me pre- 
sent it by quoting his own declaration : " Free in- 
stitutions, while they are essential to the 2)rosperity 
and hap23iness of the people, always furnish the 
strongest inducements to peace and order." The 
occasion, when these words were uttered, gave to 
them significance and value, like that which at- 
tached to the addresses of Washino^ton at the 
close of the War of Independence. At the period 
of Gen. Hancock's civil administration, the most 
threatening fountain of political danger was the 
growing desire for what was called, " strong gov- 
ernment. " Gen. Hancock's sagacity to discern the 
danger was only equaled by his wisdom in meet- 
ing it. He corrected the error which was spread- 
ing through the public mind. The votaries of 
monarchy, and caste, and privileged classes have 
clung to the illusion that absolutism, and centrali- 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 133 

zation, and supremacy of classes and bayonets are 
the conditions of strength for the State. The ideas 
of the men who framed our institutions were born 
of higher thoughts than these. Every violation of 
the natural rights and equality of persons, every 
subtraction from popular liberty by centralization, 
substitutes weakness for streno-th in the State. 
General Hancock built his political faith on the 
sure ^'corner-stone," trust in the people. 

Your friend and obedient servant, 

Algernon S. Sullivan. 



New Youk, July 22, 1880. 
The nomination, by tlie Democratic National 
Convention, of Major-General Winfield S. Han- 
cock for President of the United States, has been 
received in every section of our country with the 
most enthusiastic demonstrations of approval. 
Every day, the increasing popularity of the ticket 
has given proof of its wisdom. The confidence of 
the people was won at the very beginning of the 
campaign — ^before the echoes of the first hundred 
guns, fired in its honor, had fairly died away. Our 
standard-bearer in this battle is a gallant soldier, 



134 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

known and honored by his countrymen, familiar 
with those principles of constitutional law which 
have come down to us from the fathers, and which, 
laying broad foundations for a firm and stable 
Government, based on civil and religious liberty, 
have preserv^ed us as a nation, and made us a free 
and enlightened people. 

General Hancock's record is apart of the history 
of this country. As a soldier, modest and unas- 
suming, loved and respected by his comrades ; as a 
commander, distinguished for his courage and sig- 
nal ability on every field in Avhich his troops were 
engaged ; as a Military Governor, characterized by 
obedience to law, holding the civil law supreme in 
time of peace, and recognizing the rights of the 
people. General Hancock has shown himself worthy 
of the suffrages of his fellow citizens, and qualified 
by his training and experience to fill with honor 
the exalted station for which the Democratic -party 
has placed him in nomination. His administra- 
tion would be eminently conservative. The in- 
dustries of the country would be fostered and 
protected. Under him, as the head of the nation, 
there would be no disturbance of settled interests. 
The united Democracy of the State of New York 



GEN". WIlSrriELD S. HANCOCK. 135 

will respond to the nomination of Hancock and 
English, in November, by sending thirfcjr.five votes 
to the Electoral College in favor of the nominees 
of the Cincinnati National Convention. 
Eespectfully, 

John Kelly. 



CHAPTER XYII. 

MILITARY GOVERNOR. LETTER TO GOVERNOR PEASE 
OF TEXAS. 

In November, 1867, Gen. Hancock assumed com- 
mand of the Fifth Military District, comprising 
the States of Louisiana and Texas. Under the pro- 
visions of the Military Reconstruction Acts, the 
South, undergoing a period of probation, was grad- 
ually to resume its relations with the Union. The 
tempestuous years of Johnson's administration, and 
the indignant protests of the impoverished and war- 
begrimed States (then but recently in rebellion) 
against the joint oppressions of Federal command- 
ers and rapacious carpet-baggers, demanded a bold 
man, with high principles of administrative con- 
duct, to make a firm stand in the chief city of the 
South-west. The times, and the intricate problems 
of government presented, called for the soothing 
influences of a courageous and upright spirit, with 
a judicial appreciation of the patriotic duty of a 

136 



GEI^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 137 

ruler. His civil career while there is submitted 
in his own language, without amplification or com- 
ment. He assumed command at New Orleans in 
his celebrated order in the following words : . 



HEAD-QUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 
General Orders, ) ^ Orleans, La, November 29, 1867. 

ISO. 40. y ' 

I. In accordance with general orders N"o. 81, 
Head-quarters of the Army, Adjutant-General's 
Office, Washington, D. C, August 2Tth, 1867, 
Major-Grcneral W. S. Hancock hereby assumes 
command of the Fifth Military District and of the 
Department composed of the States of Louisiana 
and Texas. 

II. The General Commanding is gratified to 
learn that peace and quiet reign in this Depart- 
ment. It will be his purpose to preserve this con- 
dition of things. As a means to this great end he 
regards the maintenance of the civil authorities 
in the faithful execution of the laws as the most 
efficient under existing circumstances. 

In war it is indispensable to repel force by 
force, and overthrow and destroy opposition to 



138 GEN. WIN^FIELD S. HAl^COCK. 

lawful authority. But when insurrectionary force 
has been overthrown and peace established, and 
•the civil authorities are ready and w^illing to per- 
form their duties, the military power should cease 
to lead, and the civil administration resume its 
natural and rightful dominion. Solemnly impressed 
with these views, the General announces that the 
great principles of American liberty are still the 
lawful inheritance of this people, and ever should 
be. The right of trial by jury, the habeas corpus, 
the liberty of the press, the freedom of speech, the 
natural rights of persons, and the rights of prop- 
erty must be preserved. 

Free institutions, while they are essential to the 
prosperity and happiness of the people, always 
furnish the strongest inducements to peace and 
order. Crimes and offenses committed in this dis- 
trict must be referred to the consideration and 
judgment of the regular civil tribunals, and those 
tribunals will be supported in their lawful jurisdic- 
tion. 

Should there be violations of existing laws which 
are not inquired into by the civil magistrates, or 
should failures in the administration of justice by 
the courts be complained of, the cases will be re- 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 139 

ported to these head-quarters, when such orders 
will be made as may be deemed necessary. 

While the General thus indicates his purpose to 
respect the liberties of the people, he wishes all to 
understand that armed insurrection or forcible re- 
sistance to the law will be instantly suppressed by 
arms. 
By command of Majoh-General W. S. Hancock. 
[Official.] 



The following admirable letter was written and 
published by Gen. Hancock toward the close of 
his administration at New Orleans, in reply to 
the application of Governor Pease, of Texas, for 
the establishment of military commissions in that 
State. It deserves a careful reading, and in it 
may be found a triumphant vindication of the 
principles upon which Gen. Hancock conducted 
his administration. No conservative citizen can 
read it without being impressed with the soundness 
of the writer's political principles, the firmness and 
independence of his character, the excellence of 
his judgment, his statesmanlike ability, and manly 
patriotism : 



140 GEN. WINFIELD S. HAKCOCK. 

HEAD-QUARTEHS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 
New Orleajjjs, La., March 9, 1868. 

To His Excellency E. M. Pease, Governor of 

Texas : 

Sir : — Your communication of the 17th January 
last was received in due course of mail (the 27th 
January), but not until it had been widely circu- 
lated by the newspaper press. To such a letter — ■ 
written and published for manifest purposes — it 
has been my intention to reply as soon as leisure 
from more important business woukl permit. 

Your statement that the act of Congress ''to 
provide for the more efficient government of the 
rebel States," declares that whatever government 
existed in Texas was provisional ; that peace and 
order should be enforced ; that Texas should be 
part of the Fifth Military District, and subject to 
military power ; that the President should appoint 
an officer to command in said district, and detail a 
force to protect the rights of person and property, 
suppress insurrection and violence, and punish of- 
fenders, either by military commission, or through 
the action of local civil tribunals, as in his judg- 
ment might seem best, will not be disputed. One 



GEK. WIl^FIELD S. HANCOCK. 141 

need only read the act to perceive it contains such 
provisions. But how all this is supposed to have 
made it my duty to order the military commission 
requested, you have entirely failed to show. The 
power to do a thing if shown, and the propriety of 
doing it, are often very different matters. You 
observe you are at a loss to understand how a gov- 
ernment, without representation in Congress, or a 
militia force, and subject to military power, can be 
said to be in the fall exercise of all its proper 
powers. You do not reflect that this government, 
created or permitted by Congress, has all the 
powers which the act intends, and may fully ex- 
ercise them accordingly. If you think it ought to 
have more powers, should be allowed to send 
members to Congress, wield a militia force, and 
possess yet other powers, 3^our complaint is not to 
be preferred against me, but against Congress, who 
made it what it is. 

As respects the issue between us, any question 
as to what Congress ought to have done has no 
pertinence. You admit the act of Congress author- 
izes me to try an offender by military commission, 
or allow the local civil tribunals to try, as I shall 
deem best ; and you cannot deny the act expressly 



142 GEN. WK^FIELD S. HANCOCK. 

recognizes such local civil tribunals as legal au- 
thorities for the purpose specified. When you 
contend there are no legal local tribunals for 
any purpose in Texas, you must either deny the 
plain reading of the act of Congress, or the power 
of Congress to pass the act. 

You next remark that you dissent from my dec- 
laration, " that the country (Texas) is in a state of 
profound peace, '^ and proceed to state the grounds 
of your dissent. They appear to me not a little 
extraordinary. I quote your words: ^' It is true 
there no longer exists here (Texas) any organized 
resistance to the authority of the United States. '^ 
"But a large majority of the white population who 
participated in the late Rebellion are imbittered 
against the Government, and yield to it an unwill- 
ing obedience." Nevertheless, you concede they 
do 3'ield it obedience. You proceed : 

"None of this class have any affection for the 
Government, and very few any respect for it. 
Tbey regard the legislation of Congress on the sub- 
ject of reconstruction as unconstitutional and hos- 
tile to their interests, and consider the government 
now existing here under authority of the United 
States as an usurpation on their rights. They look 



GEI^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 143 

on the emancipation of their late slaves, and the 
disfranchisement of a portion of their own class, as 
an act of insult and oppression." • 

And this is all you have to present for proof that 
war and not peace prevails in Texas ; and hence 
it becomes my duty — so you suppose — to set aside 
the local civil tribunals, and enforce the penal code 
against citizens by means oi military commissions. 

My dear sir, I am not a lawyer, nor has it been 
my business, as it may have been yours, to study 
the philosophy of statecraft and politics. But I 
may lay claim, after an experience of more than half 
a lifetime, to some poor knowledge of men, and some 
appreciation of what is necessary to social order 
and happiness. And for the future of our common 
country, I could devoutly wish that no great num- 
ber of our people have yet fallen in with the 
views you appear to entertain. Woe be to us 
whenever it shall come to pass that the power of 
the magistrate — civil or military — is permitted to 
deal with the mere opinions or feelings of the 
people. 

I have been accustomed to believe that senti- 
ments of respect or disrespect, and feelings of af- 
fection, love, or hatred, so long as not developed 



144 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

into acts in violation of law, were matters wholly 
beyond the punitory power of human tribunals. 

I will maintain that the entire freedom of thought 
and speech, however acrimoniously indulged, is 
consistent with the noblest aspirations of man, and 
the happiest condition of his race. 

When a boy, 1 remember to have read a speech 
of Lord Ciiatham, delivered in Parliament. It 
was during our Revolutionary War, and related to 
the policy of employing the savages on the side of 
Britain. You may be more familiar with the 
speech than I am. If I am not greatly mistaken, 
his lordship denounced the British Government — 
his government — in terms of unmeasured bitter- 
ness. He characterized its policy as revolting to 
every sentiment of humanity and religion ; pro- 
claimed it covered with disgrace, and vented his 
eternal abhorrence of it and its measures. It may, 
I think, be safely asserted that a majority of the 
British nation concurred in the views of Lord 
Chatham. But who ever supposed that profound 
peace was not existing in that kingdom, or that 
Government had any authority to question the ab- 
solute right of the Opposition to express their ob- 
jections to the propriety of the King's measures in 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 145 

any words, or to any extent they pleased? It 
would be difficult to show that the opponents of 
the Government in the days of the elder Adams, 
or Jefferson, or Jackson, exhibited for it either 
"affection" or "respect." You are conversant 
with the histor}^ of our past parties and political 
struggles touching legislation on alienage, sedition, 
the embargo, national banks, our wars with Eng- 
land and Mexico, and cannot be ignorant of the 
fact, that for one party to assert that a law or sys- 
tem of legislation is unconstitutional, oppressive, 
and usurpative, is not a new thing in the United 
States. That the people of Texas consider acts of 
Congress unconstitutional, oppressive, or insulting to 
them, is of no consequence to the matter in hand. 
The President of the United States has announced 
his opinion that these acts of Congress are uncon- 
stitutional. The Supreme Court, as you are aware, 
not long ago decided unanimously that a certain 
military commission was unconstitutional. Our 
people everywhere, in every State, without refer- 
ence to the side they took during the Rebellion, 
differ as to the constitutionality of these acts of 
Congress. How the matter really is, neither you 
nor I may dogmatically affirm. 

10 



146 GEi^. lYII^FIELD S. HANCOCK. 

If jou. deem them constitutional laws, and bene- 
ficial to the country, you not only have the right 
to publish your opinions, but it might be your 
bounden duty as a citizen to do so. Not less is it 
the privilege and duty of any and every citizen, 
wherever residing, to jmblish his opinion freely 
and fearlessly on this and every question which he 
thinks concerns his interest. This is merely in ac- 
cordance with the principles of our free govern- 
ment ; and neither you nor I would wish to live 
under any other. It is time now, at the end of 
almost two years from the close of the war, we 
should begin to recollect what manner of people 
we are ; to tolerate again free, popular discussion, 
and extend some forbearance and consideration to 
opposing views. The maxims that in all intellec- 
tual contests truth is mighty and must prevail, 
and that error is harmless when reason is left free 
to combat it, are not only sound, but salutary. It 
is a poor compliment to the merits of such a cause, 
that its advocates would silence opposition by 
force ; and generally those only who are in the 
wrong will resort to this ungenerous means. T am 
confident you will not commit your serious judg- 
ment to the proposition that any amount of discus- 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 147 

sion, or any sort of opinions, liovvever unwise in 
your jnclgnient ; or any assertion or feeling, bow- 
ever resentful or bitter, not resulting in a breach 
of law, can furnish justification for your denial 
that profound peace exists in Texas. You might 
as well deny that profound peace exists in New 
York, Pennsylvania, Maryland, California, Ohio, 
and Kentucky, where a majority of the people 
differ with a minority on these questions ; or that 
profound i)eace exists in the House of Eepresenta- 
tives, or the Senate, at AVashington, or in the Su- 
preme Court, where all these questions have been 
repeatedly discussed, and parties respectfully and 
patiently heard. You next complain that in parts of 
the State (Texas) it is difficult to enforce the crim- 
inal laws ; that sheriff's fail to arrest ; that grand 
jurors will not always indict ; that in some cases 
the military acting in aid of the civil authorities 
have not been able to execute the process of the 
courts ; that petit jurors have acquitted persons 
adjudged guilty by you ; and that other persons 
charged with offenses have broke jail and fled from 
prosecution. I know not how these things are ; 
but admitting your representations literally true, 
if for such reasons I should set aside the local civil 



148 GEIN". WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

tribunals and order a military commission, there 
is no place in the United States where it migiit 
not be done with equal propriety. There is not a 
State in the Union — North or South — where the 
like facts are not continually happening. Perfec- 
tion is not to be predicted of man or his works. 
No one can reasonably expect certain and absolute 
justice in human transactions ; and if military 
power is to be set in motioD, on the principles for 
which you would seem to contend, I fear that a 
civil government, regulated by laws, could have 
no abiding place beneath the circuit of the sun. It 
is rather more than hinted in your letter, that 
there is no local State Government in Texas, and 
no local laws outside of the acts of Congress, which 
I ought to respect ; and that I should undertake 
to protect the rights of persons and property in 
my own way, and in an arbitrary manner. If such 
be your meaning, I am compelled to differ with 
you. After the abolition of slavery (an event 
which I hope no one now regrets), the laws of 
Louisiana and Texas existing prior to the Rebel- 
lion, and not in conflict with the acts of Congress, 
comprised a vast system of jurisprudence, both 
civil and criminal. It required not volumes only, 



GEX. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 149 

but libraries to contain tliem. The}^ laid down 
principles and precedents for ascertaining the 
rights and adjusting the controversies of men, in 
every conceivable case. They were the creations 
of great, and good, and learned men, who had la- 
bored, in their day, for their kind, and gone down to 
the grave long before our recent troubles, leaving 
their works an inestimable legacy to the human 
race. These lawSj as I am informed, connected 
the civilization of past and present ages, and 
testified of the justice, wisdom, humanity, and 
patriotism of more than one nation, through whose 
records they descended to the present people of 
these States. I am satisfied, from representations 
of persons competent to judge, they are as perfect 
a system of laws as may be found elsewhere, and 
better suited than any other to the condition of 
this people, for by them they have long been 
governed. Why should it be supposed Congress 
has abolished these laws ? Why should any one 
wish to abolish them ? They have committed no 
treason, nor are hostile to the United States, nor 
countenance crime, nor favor injustice. On them, 
as on a foundation of rock, reposes almost the en- 
tire superstructure of social order in these two 



150 GEN. WINFIELD S: HANCOCK. 

States. Annul this code of local laws, and there 
would be no longer any rights, either of person or 
property, here. Abolish the local civil tribunals 
made to execute them, and you would virtually 
annul the laws, except in reference to the very few 
cases cognizable in the Federal Courts. Let us 
for a moment suppose the whole local civil code an- 
nulled, and that I am left, as commander of the 
Fifth Military District, the sole fountain 'of law 
and justice. This is the position in which you 
would place me. 

1 am now to protect all rights and redress all 
wrongs. How is it possible for me to do it ? In- 
numerable questions arise, of which I am not only 
ignorant, but to the solution of which a military 
court is entirely unfitted. One would establish a 
will, another a deed ; or the question is one of suc- 
cession, or partnership, or descent, or trust ; a suit 
of ejectment or claim to chattels ; or the applica- 
tion may relate to robber}^, theft, arson, or murder. 
How am I to take the first step in any such mat- 
ter? If I turn to the acts of Congress, I find 
nothing on the subject. I dare not open the au- 
thors on the local code, for it has ceased to exist. 

And you tell me that in this perplexing condi- 



GE^. WINFIELD S. HAl^COCK. 151 

tioii I am to furnish, by tliiit of my own hasty and 
crude judgment, the legislation demanded by the 
vast and manifold interests of the people ! I re- 
peat, sir, that you, and not Congress, are respon- 
sible for the monstrous suggestion that the reare no 
local laws or institutions here to be respected by 
me, outside the acts of Congress. I say unhesi- 
tatingly, if it were possible, that Congress should 
pass an act abolishing the local codes for Louisiana 
and Texas — which I do not believe — and it should 
fall to my lot to supply their places with something 
of my own, I do not see how I could do better 
than follow the laws in force here prior to the Ke- 
bellion, excepting whatever therein shall relate to 
slavery. . Power may destroy the forms, but not 
the principles of justice ; these will live in spite 
even of the sword. History tells us that the Ro- 
man pandects were lost for a long period among 
the rubbish that war and revolution had heaped 
upon them, but at length were dug out of the ruins 
— again to be regarded as a precious treasure. 

You are pleased to state that ''since the publi- 
cation of (my) General Orders, No. 40, there has 
been a perceptible increase of crime, and manifes- 
tations of hostile feeling toward the Government 



152 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

and its supporters," and add that it is " an unpleas- 
ant duty to give such a recital of the condition of 
the country." 

You will permit me to say, that I deem it impos- 
sible the first of these statements can be true, and 
that I do very greatly doubt the correctness of the 
second. General Orders No. 40 was issued at 
New Orleans, November 29, 1867, and your letter 
was dated January 17, 1868. Allowing time for 
order No. 40 to reach Texas, and become general- 
1}^ known, some additional time must have elapsed 
before -its effect would be manifested, and yet a 
further time must transpire before 3'ou would be 
able to collect the evidence of what you term "the 
condition of the country ;" and yet, after all this, 
you would have to make the necessary investiga- 
tions, to ascertain if order No. 40, or something 
else, was the cause. The time, therefore, remain- 
ing to enable you, before the 17th of January, 
1868, to reach a satisfactory conclusion on so deli- 
cate and nice a question must have been very short. 
How you proceeded, whether you investigated 
yourself, or through third persons, and, if so, who 
they were, what their competency and fairness, on 
what evidence you rested your conclusion, or 



GEIS". WINFIELD S. HAT^COCK. 153 

whether you ascertained any facts at all, are points 
upon which your letter so discreetly omits all men- 
tion, that I may well be excused for not relying 
implicitly upon it ; nor is my difficulty diminished 
by the fact that in another part of your letter you 
state that ever since the close of the war, a very 
large portion of the people have had no aflfection 
for the Government, but bitterness of feeling only. 
Had the duty of publishing and circulating through 
the country long before it reached me, your state- 
ment that the action of the district commander was 
increasing crime and hostile feelings against the 
Government, been less painful to your sensibilities, 
if might possibly have occurred to you to furnish 
something on the subject in addition to your bare 
assertion. 

But what was order No. 40, and how could it 
have the effect you attribute to it? It sets forth 
that " the great principles of American liberty are 
still the inheritance of this people, and ever should 
be ; that the right of trial by jury, the habeas 
corpus, the liberty of the press, the freedom of 
speech, and the natural rights of persons and prop- 
erty must be preserved." Will jou question the 
truth of these declarations ? Which one of these 



154 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

great principles of liberty are you ready to deii}^ 
and repudiate ? Whoever does so avows himself 
the enemy of human liberty, and the advocate of 
despotism. Was there any intimation in General 
Orders No. 40 that any crimes or breaches of law 
would be countenanced ? You know that there was 
not. On the contrary, you know perfectly well 
that while " the consideration of crime and offenses 
committed in the Fifth Military District was re- 
ferred to the judgment of the regular civil tribu- 
nals," a pledge was given in order No. 40, which 
all understood, that tribunals would be supported 
in their lawful jurisdiction, and that '' forcible re- 
sistance to law would be instantly suppressed by 
arms." You will not affirm that this pledge hg,s 
ever been forfeited. There has not been a moment 
since I have been in command of the Fifth Dis- 
trict, when the whole military force in my hands 
has not been ready to support the civil authorities 
of Texas in the execution of the laws. And I am 
unwilling to believe they would refuse to call for 
aid if they needed it. 

There are some considerations which, it seems to 
me, should cause you to hesitate before indulging 
iu wholesale censures aoiainst the civil authorities 



GEIN^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 155 

of Texas. You are yourself the chief of these au- 
thorities, not elected by the people, but created by 
the militar3^ Not long after you had thus come 
into office, all the judges of the Supreme. Court of 
Texas — five in number — were removed from office, 
and new appointments made ; twelve of the seven- 
teen district judges were removed, and others ap- 
pointed. Couot}^ officers, more or less, in seventy- 
five out of one hundred and twenty-eight counties, 
were removed, and others appointed in their places. 
It is fair to conclude that the executive and judicial 
civil functionaries in Texas are the persons whom 
3^ou desired to fill the offices. It is proper to men- 
tion, also, that none but registered citizens, and 
only those who could take the test oath, have been 
allowed to serve as jurors during your administra- 
tion. Now, it is against this local government, 
created by military power prior to my coming 
here, and so composed of your personal and politi- 
cal friends, that you have preferred the most griev- 
ous complaints. It is of them that you have as- 
serted they will not do their duty ; they will not 
maintain justice ; will not arrest off'enders ; will not 
punish crimes ; and that out of one hundred homi- 
cides committed in the last twelve months, not 



156 cum. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

over ten arrests have been made ; and by means of 
such gross disregard of duty, you declare that 
neither property nor life is safe in Texas. 

Certainly you could have said nothing more to 
the discredit of the officials v/ho are now in ofQce. 
If the facts be as you allege, a mystery is pre- 
sented for which I can imagine no explanation. 
Why is it that jour political friends, backed up 
and sustained by the whole military power of (he 
United States in this district, should be unwilling 
to enforce the laws against that part of the popu- 
lation lately in rebellion, and whom you represent 
as the offenders? In all the history of these 
troubles, I have never seen or heard before of 
such a fact. I repeat, if the fact be so, it is a 
profound mystery, utterly surpassing my compre- 
hension. I am constrained to declare that I be- 
lieve you are in very great error as to facts. On 
careful examination at the proper source, I find 
that at the date of your letter four cases only of 
homicides had been reported to these head-quarters 
as having occurred since November 29, 1867, the 
date of Order 40, and these cases were ordered to 
be tried or investigated as soon as the reports were 
received. However, the fact of the one hundred 



GEN. WIN FIELD S. HANCOCK. 157 

homicides may still be correct, as stated by yon. 
The Freedmen's Bureau in Texas reported one 
hundred and sixty ; how many of these were by 
Indians and Mexicans, and how the remainder 
were classified, is not known, nor is it known 
whether these data are accurate. 

The report of the commanding officer of the 
district of Texas shows that since I assumed com- 
mand no applications have been made to him by 
you for the arrest of criminals in the State of 
Texas. 

To this date eighteen cases of homicide have 
been reported to me as having occurred since 
November 29, 1867, although special instructions 
had been given to report such cases as they 
occur. Of these, five were committed by Indians, 
one by a Mexican, one by an insane man, three 
by colored men, two of women by their husbands, 
and of the remainder some by parties unknown, 
— all of which could be scarcely attributable to 
order No. 40. If the reports received since the 
issuing of ord*^; No. 40 are correct, they exhibit 
no increase of homicides in my time, if jon are 
correct that one hundred had occurred in the past 
twelve months. 



158 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

That there has not been a perfect administra- 
tion of justice in Texas I am not prepared to deny. 

That there has been no such wanton disregard 
of dut}^ on the part of officials as you allege, I am 
well satisfied. A very little while ago you re- 
garded the present officials in Texas the only 
ones who could be safely trusted with power. 
Now you pronounce them worthless, and would 
cast them aside. 

I have found little else in your letter but indi- 
cations of temper, lashed into excitement by 
causes which I deem mostly imaginarj^, a great 
confidence in the accuracy of your own opinions, 
and an intolerance of the opinions of others, a 
desire to punish the thoughts and feelings of those 
who differ from you, and an impatience which 
magnifies the short-comings of officials who are 
perhaps as earnest and conscientious in the dis- 
charge of their duties as yourself, and a most 
unsound conclusion that while any persons are to 
be found wanting in affection or respect for Gov- 
ernment, or yielding it obedience from motives 
which you do not approve, war, and not peace, is 
the status, and all such persons are the proper 
subjects for military penal jurisdiction. 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 159 

If I have written anything to disabuse your 
mind of so grave an error, I shall be gratified. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, jour obedient ser- 
vant, 

W. S. Hancock, 

Major-General CommandiDg. 



CHAPTER XYIII. 

FURTHER HISTORIC DOCUMENTS. REVOKING A SUM- 
MARY REMOVAL FROM OFFICE, MADE BY HIS 
PREDECESSOR. 

HEAD-QUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 
New Orleans, La., December 4, 1867. 
Special Orders, ) 
No. 202. f 

[extract.] 
* ♦ * * ^ 

2. Paragraph 3, of special orders No. 188, from 
these head-quarters, dated November 16, 1867, 
issued by Brevet Major- General Mower, removing 
P. R. O'Rourke, Clerk of Second District Court, 
Parish of Orleans, for malfeasance in office, and 
appointing R. L. Shelly in his stead, is hereby 
revoked, and P. R. O'Rourke is reinstated in said 
office. 

If any charges are set up against the said 
O'Rourke, the judicial department of the Govern- 

160 



GEN. WIISTFIELD S. HAI^COCK. 161 

ment is sufficient to take whatever action may be 
necessary in the premises. 

* :J: * * * 

By Command of Major-General Hancock. 
[Official.] 

Order op General Hancock Revoking the 
Order of his Predecessor, which Interfered 
WITH THE Selection of Jurors ; and Defin- 
ing THE True and Proper Use of Military 
Power. 

head-quarters fifth military district. 

New Orleans, La., December 5, 1867. 



Special Orders, 
No. 203. 



[extract.] 



2. The true and proper use of military power, 
besides defending the national honor against 
foreign nations, is to uphold the laws and civil 
government, and to secure to every person re- 
siding among us the enjoyment of life, liberty, 
and property. It is accordingly made, by act of 
Congress, the duty of the Commander of this 
District to protect all persons in those rights, to 

suppress disorder and violence, and to punish, or 
11 



163 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

cause to be punished, all disturbers of the public 
peace, and criminals. 

The Commanding General has been officially 
informed that the administration of justice, and 
especially of criminal justice, in the courts is 
clogged, if not entirely frustrated, by the en- 
forcement of paragraph No. 2, of the military or- 
der numbered Special Orders 125, current series, 
from these head-quarters, issued on the 24th of 
August, A. D. 1867, relative to the qualificatit)ns 
of persons to be placed on the jury lists of the 
State of Louisiana. 

To determine who shall, and who shall not be 
jurors, appertains to the legislative power; and 
until the laws in existence regulating this subject 
shall be amended or changed by that department 
of the civil government which the constitutions of 
all the States under our republican system vest 
with that power, it is deemed best to carry out the 
will of the people as expressed in the last legisla- 
tive act upon this subject. 

The qualification of a juror, under the law, is a 
proper subject for the decision of the courts. The 
Commanding General, in the discharge of the trust 
reposed in him, will maintain the just power of the 



GEN^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 163 

judiciary, and is unwilling to permit the civil 
authorities and laws to be embarrassed by mili- 
tary interference ; and as it is an established fact 
that the administration of justice in the ordinary 
tribunals is greatly embarrassed by the operations 
of paragraph No. 2, Special Orders No. 125, cur- 
rent series, from these head-quarters, it is ordered 
that said paragraph, which relates to the qualifica- 
tions of persons to be placed on the jury lists of 
the State of Louisiana, be, and the same is hereby 
revoked, and that the trial by jury be, henceforth, 
regulated and controlled by the Constitution and 
civil laws, without regard to any military orders 
heretofore issued from these head-quarters. 
* * * * * 

By Command of Major-General Hancock. 
[Official.] 

Order Sustaining the Jurisdiction of the Civil 
Courts over the Rights of Private Property. 



head-quarters fifth military district, 

New Orleans, La., December 16, 1867. 



Special Orders, 
No. 211. 



[extract.] 
***** 

4. Paragraph 3, of Special Orders No. 197, cur- 



164 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

rent series, from these head-quarters, issued by- 
Brevet Major-General J. A. Mower, in the matter 
of the estate of D. B. Staats, is hereby revoked, 
the local tribunals possessing ample power for the 
protection of all parties concerned. The property 
in dispute will be restored to the possession of the 
party entitled to the same by order of Court. 

•X: * ^ * -3^ 

By Command of Major-Gexeral Hancock. 
[Official.] 

Order to Secure the Purity of Elections, and 
TO Prevent Military Interference at the 
Polls. 

head-quarters fifth MrLITARY DISTRICT, 
New Orleans, La., December 18, 1867. 
Special Orders, ) 
No. 313. \ 

[extract.] 

I. In compliance with the supplementary act of 
Congress of March 23, 1867, notice is hereby 
given that an election will be held in the State of 
Texas on the 10th, 11th, 12th, 13th, and 14th days 
of February, 1868, to determine whether a con- 
vention shall be held, and for delegates thereto, " to 
form a constitution " for the State under said act. 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 165 

• IX. Military interference with elections, ''un- 
less it shall be necessary to keep the peace at the 
polls," is prohibited by law, and no soldiers will 
be allowed to appear at an}^ polling place, unless 
as citizens of the State they are registered as 
voters, and then only for the purpose of voting ; 
but the commanders of posts will be prepared to 
act prompt!}^ if the civil authorities fail to preserve 
the peace. 

X. The sheriff and other peace officers of each 
county are required to be present during the 
whole time the polls are kept open, and until the 
election is completed, and will be made respons- 
ible that there shall be no interference with 
judges of election, or other interruption of good 
order. 

As an additional measure to secure the purity 
of the election, each registrar or clerk is hereby 
clothed, during the election, with authority to call 
upon the civil officers of the county to make ar- 
rests, and in case of failure of the aforesaid civil 
officers, are empowered to perform their duties 
during the election. They will make full report 
of such failures on the part of civil officers to the 
Commanding General, Fifth Military District, 



166 GEJSr. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

through the head-quarters, District of Texas, for 
orders in each case. 

^ ^ ^ ¥: * 

By Command of Major-General Hancock. 
[Official.] 

On the Stay of Civil Process, 
head-quarters fifth military district, 

Office of Secretary for Civil Affairs, 
New Orleans, La., December 20, 1867. 

The Hon. E. Heath, Mayor of Neio Orleans : 

Sir : — In answer to your communication of the 
30th ult., requesting his intervention in staying 
proceedings in suits against the city on its notes, 
the Major-General Commanding directs me to re- 
spectfully submit his views to you on that subject, 
as follows : 

Such a proceeding on his part would, in fact, be 
a stay-law in favor of the city of New Orleans, 
which, under the Constitution, could not be enacted 
by the Legislature of the State, and in his judg- 
ment such a power ought to be exercised by him, 
if at all, only in a case of the most urgent neces- 
sity. 

That the notes referred to were issued originally 
in violation of the charter of the city, cannot be 



I 



GEI^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 167 

denied ; but the illegal act lias since been ratified 
by the Legislature. The Corporation is therefore 
bound to pay them ; and even if a defense could 
be made on technical grounds, it would be dis- 
graceful for the city to avail itself of it. Why, 
then, should the creditors of the city be prevented 
from resorting to the means given them to enforce 
the obligation? 

In support of your application you state that the 
city is unable to pay its debts. This is, unfortu- 
natel}^ the case with most debtors ; and on that 
ground nearly all other debtors would be equally 
entitled to the same relief. 

The Supreme Court of this State has decided 
that taxes due a municipal corporation cannot be 
seized, under execution, by a creditor of the cor- 
poration, nor is any other property used for muni- 
cipal purposes liable to seizure. If, therefore, a 
constable levies an execution on such property, he 
is a trespasser, and the city has its remedy against 
him in the proper tribunal. 

It does not, therefore, seem to the Major-G-en- 
eral Commanding that there is an urgent necessity 
which would justify his interference in the manner 
required. Besides, the expediency of such a 



168 GEN. WIXriELD S. HANCOCK. 

measure is more than questionable ; for, instead of 
reinstating the confidence of the public in city 
notes, it would probably destroy it altogether. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient 
servant, 

W. G. Mitchell, 

Bvt. Lieut. -Col., U. S. A., Sec'y for Civil Affairs. 

On the Trial of Offenders Against the Laws 
OF the State. 

head-quarters fifth military district. 

Office of Secretary for Civil Affairs, 
New Orleans, La., Decemrber 28, 1867. 

His Excellency E. M. Pease, Governor of Texas: 

Sir: — Brevet Major-General J. J. Reynolds, 
commanding District of Texas, in a communication 
dated Austin, Texas, November 19, 1867, . re- 
quests that a military commission may be ordered 
"for the trial of one Gr. W. Wall, and such other 
prisoners as may be brought before it," and for- 
wards, in support of the request, the following 
papers : 

1st. A printed account taken from a newspaper 

dated Uvalde, October , 1867 (contained in 

a letter of James H. Taylor, and in another from 



GEN. WIITFIELD S. HANCOCK. 169 

Dr. Ansell, U. S. Surgeon at Fort Inge), of the 

murder of R. W. Black, on the cla}^ of 

October, 1867. In this account it is stated Mr. 
Black was shot through the heart by Gr. W. Wall 
**while lying on the counter at Mr. Thomas's store. '^ 

2d. A letter of Judge G. H. Noonan to Gov- 
ernor Pease, dated November 10, 1867, inform- 
ing him that ** Wall, Thacker, and Pulliam are in 
confinement in Uvalde County for murder.'' In 
this letter it is asked, '' Would it not be best to try 
them by military commission ? " 

3d. A letter from Governor Pease, dated ''Ex- 
ecutive of Texas, Austin, November 11, 1867," 
in which the Governor states that he received a 
telegram from Judge G. H. Noonan, an extract 
from which I transmit herewith. In the letter of 
the Governor the further statement is made that 
" Uvalde County, where the prisoners are confined, 
is on the extreme western frontier of the State, 
and has only about one hundred voters in a terri- 
tory of about nine hundred square miles ; " and he 
then adds, "It is not probable that they (meaning 
the prisoners) can be kept in confinement long 
enough ever to be tried by the civil courts of that 
county ; " and expresses the opinion that they 



170 GETT. WINFIELD S. HAN^COCK. 

never "can be brought to trial unless it is clone 
before a military commission.'^ And lie therefore 
asks that a military commission be ordered for 
their trial. 

From an examination of the papers submitted 
to the commander of the Fifth Military District, it 
does not appear that there is any indisposition or 
unwillingness on the part of the local civil tribu- 
nals to take jurisdiction of, and to try the prison- 
ers in question ; and a suggestion made by the 
Governor that it is not probable the prisoners can 
be kept in confinement long enough to be tried by 
the civil courts (and which is apparently based 
on the fact that Uvalde County is a frontier county, 
and does not contain more than a hundred voters), 
seems to be the only foundation on which the re- 
quest for the creation of a military commission is 
based. This, in the opinion of the Commanding 
General, is not sufficient to justify him in the exer- 
cise of the extraordinary power vested in him by 
law '' to organize military commissions or tribu- 
nals "for the trial of persons charged with offenses 
against the laws of a State. 

It is true that the third section of ''An Act to 
provide for the more efficient government of the 



GEIT. WINFIELD S. HA:N'C0CK. 171 

Rebel States," makes it the duty of the commanders 
of military districts ''to punish, or cause to be 
punished, all disturbers of the public peace and 
criminals ;" but the same section also declares that 
" to that end he may allow local civil tribunals to 
take jurisdiction of, and to try offenders." The 
further power given to him in the same section, 
'^when in his judgment it maybe necessary for 
the trial of offenders," to organize military com- 
missions for that purpose, is an extraordinary 
power, and from its very nature should be exer- 
cised for the trial of offenders against the laws of a 
State only in the extraordinary^ event that the 
local civil tribunals are unwilling or unable to en- 
force the laws against crime. 

At this time the country is in a state of profound 
peace. The State Government of Texas, organ- 
ized in subordination to the authorit}^ of the Gov- 
ernment of the United States, is in the full exer- 
cise of all its proper powers. The courts, duly 
empowered to administer the laws, and to punish 
all offenders against those laws, are in existence. 
No unwillingness on the part of these courts is sug- 
gested to inquire into the offenses with which the 
prisoners in question are charged, nor are any ob- 



172 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

structions whatever in the way of enforcing the 
laws against them said to exist. Under such cir- 
cumstances there is no good ground for the exer- 
cise of the extraordinary power vested in the 
commander to organize a military commission for 
the trial of the persons named. 

It must be a matter of profound regret to all who 
value constitutional government, that there should 
be occasions in times of civil commotion, when the 
public good imperatively requires the intervention 
of the military power for the repression of disor- 
ders in the body politic, and for the punishment 
of offenses against the existing laws of a country 
framed for the preservation of social order ; but 
that the intervention of this power should be called 
for, or even suggested, by civil magistrates, when 
the laws are no longer silent and civil magistrates 
are possessed, in their respective spheres, of all 
the powers necessary to give . effect to the laws, 
excites the surprise of the commander of the Fifth 
Military District. 

In his view it is of evil example, and full of 
danger to the cause of freedom and good govern- 
ment, that the exercise of the military power, 
through military tribunals created for the trial ot 



GEN. WINFIELD S. IIAXCOCK. 173 

offenses against tlie civil law, should ever be per- 
mitted, when the ordinary powers of the existing 
State Governments are ample for the punishment 
of offenders, or those charged with the administra- 
tion of the laws are faithful in the discharge of 
their duties. 

If the means at the disposal of the State author- 
ities are insufficient to secure the confinement of 
the persons named in the communication of the 
Governor of the State of Texas to the General Com- 
manding there, until they can be legally tried, on 
the fact being made known to him, the commander 
of the district will supply the means to retain them 
in confinement, and the commanding officer of the 
troops in Texas is so authorized to act. If there 
are reasons in existence which justify an appre- 
hension that the prisoners cannot be fairly tried in 
that county, let the proper civil officers have the 
" venue " changed for the trial, as provided for by 
the laws of Texas. 

In the opinion of the commander of the Fifth 
Military District, the existing Government of the 
State of Texas possesses all the powers necessary 
for the proper and prompt trial of the prisoners in 
question in due course of law. 



174 GEK. WII^FIELD S. HANCOCK. 

If these powers are not exercised for that pur- 
pose, the failure to exercise them can be attributed 
only to the indolence or culpable inefficiency of the 
officers now charged with the execution and en- 
forcement of the laws under the authority of the 
State Grovernment ; and, if there is such a failure, 
in the instance mentioned, on the part of those 
officers to execute the laws, it will then become the 
duty of the commander to remove the officers who 
fail to discharge the duties imposed on them, and 
to replace them with others who will discharge 
them. 

Should these means fail, and it be found, on fur- 
ther experience, that there are not a sufficient 
number of persons among the people now exercis- 
ing political power in Texas, to supply the public 
with officers who will enforce the laws of the State, 
it will then become necessary for the commander 
of the Fifth Military District to exercise the powers 
vested in him, by the acts of Congress under 
which he is appointed, for the purpose of vindi- 
cating the majesty of the laAV. But until such 
necessity is shown to exist, it is not the intention 
of the Commandinii; General to have recourse to 
those powers ; and he deems the present a fitting 



GEIT. WIT^riELD S. HAIS-COCK. 175 

occasion to make this known to the Governor of 
Texas, and, through him, to the people of the State 
at large. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient ser- 
vant, 

W. Gr. Mitchell, 

Bvt. Lieut.-Col., U. S. A., Sec'y for CivU Affairs. 



CHAPTER XIX. 

ON ELECTIONS BY THE PEOPLE. 

HEAD-QUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 

Office of Secretary for Civil Affairs, 

New Orleans, La., December 28, 1867. 

Lieutenant-Colonel W. H. Wood, Commanding 
District of Louisiana, JSfev) Orleans, La. : 

Colonel : — I am directed by the Major-General 
Commanding to acknowledge receipt of a letter 
from Nelson Durand, (forwarded by you), stating 
that the Treasurer of Avoyelles Parish, La., caused 
an election to be held, to ascertain if the citizens 
of the township were in favor of selling a school 
section belonging to the parish, and requesting an 
opinion as to the legality of said election. 

In reply to said letter, I am directed by him to 
state that if the provision of the law were com- 
plied with in regard to advertisements, the manner 
of taking the sense of the inhabitants, and legal 
voters only were admitted to take part, there seems 
to be no reason why the action should be consid- 

.- 176 



GElSr. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 177 

ered a nullity. It was not, properly speaking, an 
election, but a way prescribed by law of arriving 
at the will of the community, as regards the dis- 
position to be made of certain school lands belong- 
ing to the parish. 

The previous authorization of the Major-General 
Commanding is not considered necessary. But if 
the sense of the people was not duly regarded, 
(on the previous occasion) as to the foregoing re- 
quirements, the matter should be again referred to 
them for a free and legal expression of their 
opinion. 

I am, Colonel, very respectfully, your obedient 
servant, W. Gr. Mitchell, 

Bvt. Lieut. -Col., U. S. A., Sec'y for Civil Affairs. 

On Removals from Office without Judicial 
Investigation and Determination. 

head-quarters fifth military district, 

Office of Secretary for Civil Affairs, 

New Orleans, La., December 30, 1867. 

His Excellency B. F. Flanders, Governor of Louis- 
iana : 
Governor : — I am directed by the Major-General 

13 



178 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

Commanding to acknowledge the receipt of your 
communication of the 11th inst., with papers and 
documents accompanying the same, charging the 
Police Jury, Parish of Orleans, right bank, with 
appropriating to their own use and benefit the 
public funds of said parish, and with being per- 
sonally interested in contracts let by them, and 
recommending the removal from office of the pres- 
ident and members of said Police Jury ; and, in 
reply, to state that these charges present a proper 
case for judicial investigation and determination ; 
and, as it is evident to him that the courts of jus- 
tice can afford adequate relief for the wrongs com- 
plained of, if proved to exist, the Major-General 
Commanding has concluded that it is not advisable 
to resort to the measures suggested in your Excel- 
lency's communication. 

I am, Governor, very respectfully, yojir obedient 
servant, 

W. G. Mitchell, 

Bvt. Lieut.-Col., U. S. A., Sec'y for Civil Affairs. 



GEI^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 179 

Order of General Hancock DiscLAmiNa Ju- 
dicial Functions in Civil Cases. 

head-quarters fifth military district, 

General Orders, ) New Orleans, La., January 1, 1868. 

No. 1. \ 

Applications Lave been made at these head-quar- 
ters imphnng the existence of an arbitrary author- 
ity in the Commanding-General, touching purely 
civil controversies. 

One petitioner solicits this action, another that, 
and each refers to some special consideration of 
grace or favor which he supposes to exist, and 
which should influence this Department. 

The number of such applications, and the waste 
of time they involve make it necessary to declare 
that the administration of civil justice appertains 
to the regular Courts. The rights of litigants do 
not depend on the views of the General — they are 
to be adjudged and settled according to the laws. 
Arbitrary power, such as he has been urged to as- 
sume, has no existence here. It is not found in 
the laws of Louisiana or of Texas — it cannot be 
derived from any act or acts of Congress — it is 



180 GE1S-. WINFIELD S. HAT^COCK. 

restrained by a constitution, and prohibited from 
action in many particulars. 

The Major- General Commanding takes occasion 
to repeat that while disclaiming judicial functions 
in civil cases, he can suffer no forcible resistance to 
the execution of process of the Courts. 

By command of Majoe-General Hancock. 
[Official.] 

Communication Concerning an Application by 
A Eailroad Company. 

head-quarters fifth military district, 

Office of Secretary for Civil Affairs, 
New Orleans, La., January 2, 1868. 

Henry Yan Yleet, Esq., Chief Engineer : 

Sir: — In reply to j^our communication, request- 
ing the Major-G-eneral Commanding to issue a cer- 
tain order relative to the New Orleans, Mobile, 
and Chattanooga Eailroad Company, I am direct- 
ed by him to state : 

That the order asked for embraces questions of 
the most important and delicate nature, such as 
the exercise of the right of eminent domain, ob- 



GEI^. WINFIELD S. HAIS^COCK. 181 

struction of navigable rivers or outlets, etc., and 
it appears to him very questionable whether he 
ought to deal with questions of that kind ; nor is it 
clear that any benefit could result to the company 
from such an order. 

So far as the State of Louisiana is concerned, 
there can be no difficulty in obtaining a decree of 
appropriation of the land which may be required 
for the enterprise, according to the existing laws, 
as the company has been regularly incorporated 
under the general corporation act. Be this, how- 
ever, as it may, the question oi power, which the 
company desires solved by the proposed order, be- 
longs properly to the judiciary, and therefore the 
Major-General Commanding declines to take action 
in this matter. 

If you desire, the papers in this case, together 
with a copy of this letter, will be forwarded to the 
Secretary of War. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient ser- 
vant, 

W. Gr. Mitchell, 

Bvt. Lieut. -Col., U. S. A., Sec'y for Civil Affairs, 



182 GEN. WINriELD S. HA]S"COCK. 



Order of General Hancock Revoking Certain 
Instructions Issued by his Predecessor to 
THE Board of Registration. 



head-quarters fifth military district, 

[IDE 

No. 3. 



General Orders, } New Orleans, La., January 11, 1868 



Printed " Memoranda of disqualifications for the 
guidance of the Boards of Registrars, under the 
Military Bill passed March 2, 1867, and the Bill 
supplementary thereto," and " Questions to be an- 
swered by persons proposing to register," were 
distributed from these head-quarters in the month 
of May, 1867, to the members of the Boards of Reg- 
istration then in existence in the States of Louisi- 
ana and Texas, for the registration of *' the male 
citizens of the United States " who are qualified to 
vote for delegates under the acts entitled "An Act 
to provide for the more efi&cient government of the 
Rebel States." 

These "Memoranda" and "Questions" areas 
follows : 

[The Memoranda, being length}^, are omitted.] 

Grave differences of opinion exist among the 



GE^. WmriELD S. HANCOCK. 183 

best informed and most conscientious citizens of 
the United States, and the highest functionaries of 
the National Government, as to the proper con- 
struction to be given to the acts of Congress pre- 
scribing the qualifications entitling persons to be 
registered as voters, and to exercise the right of 
suffrage at the elections to be holden under the act 
entitled "An Act to provide for the more efficient 
government of the Rebel States," and the acts sup- 
plementary thereto. Such differences of opinion 
are necessary incidents to the imperfection of hu- 
man language when emploj^ed in the work of leg- 
islation. 

Upon examining those acts, the Commanding Gen- 
eral finds himself constrained to dissent from the 
construction given to them in the " Memoranda '^ 
referred to. This construction would of course nec- 
essarily exclude all officers holding offices created 
under special acts of the State Legislatures, includ- 
ing all officers of municipal corporations, and of in- 
stitutions organized for the dispensation of charity, 
under the authority of such special laws. Such a 
construction, in the opinion of the Major-General 
Commanding, has no support in the language of 
the acts of Congress passed on the 2d and the 23d 



184 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

of March, 1867, which were the only acts in exist- 
ence when these ** Memoranda" were distributed. 
Since that time, however, what was before, in the 
opinion of the Commanding General, only an error 
of construction, would now be a contravention of 
the law, as amended and defined in the act of July 
19, 1867. 

The Major-General Commanding also dissents 
from various other points in the construction given 
to the disqualifying clauses of the acts in question, 
as shown by the "Memoranda" referred to, but 
he will add nothing further to what he has already 
said on the subject, because his individual opinions 
cannot rightfully have, and ought not to have, any 
influence upon the Boards of Registration in the 
discharge of the duties expressly imposed upon 
and intrusted to them by these acts of Congress as 
they now stand. The Boards of Eegistration are 
bodies created by law, with certain limited but 
well-defined judicial powers. It is made their 
especial duty "to ascertain, upon such facts as 
they can obtain, whether any person applying is 
entitled to be registered " uuder the acts. Their 
decisions upon the cases of individual applicants 
are final as to the right, unless appeals are taken, 



GEIT. WINFIELD S. HAKCOCK. 185 

in the proper form, and carried before competent 
superior authority for revision ; and, like the 
members of ordinary Courts engaged in the exer- 
cise of judicial functions, it is the bounden duty 
of the members of the Boards of Eegistration to 
decide upon the questions as to the right of any 
applicant, on the facts before them, and in obe- 
dience to the provisions of the law. 

Since the passage of the act of July 19, 1867, it 
is not only the right, but the solemn duty of the 
members of these Boards, each for himself, and 
under the sanction of his oath of ofi&ce, to interpret 
the provisions of the acts from which the authority 
of the Boards was derived, and to decide upon each 
case according to the best of his own judgment. 

The distribution of the above " Memoranda '^ 
was well calculated to produce the impression in 
the minds of the members of Boards of Registration, 
that they constituted rules prescribed to them for 
their government in the discharge of their official 
duties which they were required to obey ; and it 
seems certain, from various communications of facts 
in relation to the mode of carrying out the regis- 
tration, that they were so regarded by the mem- 
bers of the Boards, and that they not only in- 



186 GEIS^. WIIS^FIELD S. HAIN^COCK. 

fluenced, but in point of fact controlled, the pro- 
ceedings of the different Boards. 

In consequence of this, and as the time for the 
revision of the registration in the State of Texas 
is now at hand, and the duty of making the re- 
vision will, it is probable, in a great degree, be 
performed by persons who are members of the 
Boards of Registration, to which the "Memoranda'^ 
in question were distributed for their guidance, 
the Major-Greneral Commanding deems it of im- 
portance that the members of the Boards of Regis- 
tration, and the people at large, should be informed 
that the "Memoranda" before referred to, dis- 
tributed from the head-quarters of this Military Dis- 
trict, are null and of no effect, and are not now to be 
regarded by the Boards of Registration in making 
their decisions ; and that the members of the 
Boards are to look to the laws, and to the laws 
alone, for the rules which are to govern them in 
the discharge of the delicate and important duties 
imposed upon them. 

For this purpose they will be furnished with 
copies of the acts of Congress relating to this sub- 
ject, and of the amendment (known as Article 
Xiy.) to the Constitution of the United States. 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 187 

In case of questions arising as to the right of 
any individual to be registered, the person deem- 
ing himself aggrieved is entitled to his appeal 
from the decision of the Board, and the Boards 
are directed to make a full statement of the facts 
in such cases, and to forward the same to these 
head-quarters without unnecessarj^ delay. 

By Command of Major-General Hancock. 
[Official.] 

Order for Convening a Special Civil Court 
FOR THE Trial of Criminal Cases. 

head-quarters fifth military district, 

New Orleans, La., January 2, 1868. 
Special Orders, ) 
No. 1. f 

[extract.] 
♦ ♦ * -Jfr ^ 

3. Wiereas, The presence of an epidemic at 
Corpus Christi has prevented the holding of the 
usual term of the District Court of Nueces County, 
Texas : and 

Whereas, A large number of criminal cases are 
on the docket of said Court that should be tried 
without delay : 

It is therefore ordered, That a special term of 
the District Court for Nueces County shall be held 



188 GElSr. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

on Monday, the thirteenth day of January, 1868, 
for the trial of all criminal cases that may be 
brought before it. 

Such Court shall continue in session for three 
weeks, unless the business before it is sooner dis- 
posed of. 

All process in criminal cases shall be, and they 
are hereby made returnable to the said special 
term of said Court. 

The proper officers of that county will cause 
the usual number jurymen to be drawn and sum- 
moned. 

^ * * * * 

By command of Major-General Hancock. 
[Official.] 

CONCERNINa THE LeYY OF A SPECIAL TaX. 

HEAD-QUAHTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 

Office of Secretary for Civil Affairs, 
New Orleans, La., January 12, 1868. 

His Excellency E. M. Pease, Governor of Texas, 
Austin, Texas : 
Governor : — I am directed by the Major-Gen- 
eral Commanding to acknowledge the receipt of 
your letter and accompanying documents, relative 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HAKCOCK. 189 

to an application from the Mayor and City Council 
of Houston, for authority to hold an election to 
determine whether a special tax shall be levied 
for the purpose of raising means with which to cut 
a ship's channel to Galveston Bay, and to state 
that if the power to hold such election was not con- 
ferred upon the city of Houston by its act of in- 
corporation, nor by any act of the Legislature, no 
such election, and no tax levied for such a purpose, 
would be legah 

I am, Governor, very respectfully, your obedient 
servant, 

"W. G. Mitchell, 

Bvt. Lieut. -Col., U. S. A., Sec'y for Civil Affairs. 



CHAPTER XX. 

RELATING TO THE COLLECTION OF TAXES. 

HEAD-QUARTERS FIFTH MILITARY DISTRICT, 

Office of Secretary for Civil Affairs, 
New Orleans, La., January 15, 1888. 

H. Peralta, Esq., Auditor of Public Accounts, 
New Orleans, La. : 
Sir : — I am directed by the Major-General Com- 
laanding to acknowledge receipt of your letter of 
the 13th inst., in which you state that the " taxes 
imposed by the Constitutional Convention cannot 
be collected through the ordinary process of col- 
lecting taxes in this State," and "refer the whole 
tnatter to him for his action ; " and in reply to 
state that the tax-collectors of the parishes of Or- 
leans and Jefferson, in their report to jom of the 
same date, say that ^' the tax-payers have gene- 
rally refused to pay the tax." By reference to the 
ordinance of the Convention, you will find " that the 

190 



I 



GEIS^. WINFIELD S. HAT^COCK. 191 

Auditor of Public Accounts of the State shall, as 
under existing laws in relation to the collection of 
taxes, superintend and control the collection of 
said tax of one mill per cent., and shall give im- 
mediate notice and instructions to the different 
sheriffs and tax-collectors.'' 

It does not appear, from your statement, that 
any process for the collection of this tax has is- 
sued, or that any other steps have been taken, ex- 
cept giving notice in the newspapers, and a demand 
to pay which has been refused. No resort has 
been made to those coercive means to enforce the 
payment of taxes pointed out by the laws of the 
State ; this it is your duty to direct the tax-col- 
lector to do. When that is done, and forcible 
resistance should be made, the Major-General Com- 
manding will, upon it being reported to him, take 
prompt measures to vindicate the supremacy of 
the law. 

1 am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient ser- 
vant, 

W. Gr. Mitchell, 

Bvt. Lieut. -Col., U. S. A., Sec'y for Civil Affairs. 



192 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

Eelating to the Collection of Taxes, 
head-quarters fifth military district, 

Office of Secretary for Civil Affairs, 
New Orleans, La., January 21, 1868. 

Hon. Wm. P. McMillan and Hon. M. Vidal, 

Special Committee : 

Gentlemen : — The Major-General Commanding 
directs me to acknowledge the receipt of your letter 
of the 17th instant, and to state in reply that the 
second ordinance of the Constitutional Convention, 
adopted on the 4th of January, 1868, provides a 
new mode for the collection of the tax, and im- 
poses penalties on defaulting taxpayers. 

You request the Commanding General to state 
what his action would be should the Civil Courts of 
Louisiana interfere with the collectors in the dis- 
charge of their duties. 

In this connection the Commanding General 
deems it unnecessary to repeat what he has already 
stated in reply to a previous letter concerning his 
authority on this subject. 

It would be highly improper for him to antici- 
pate any illegal interference of the Courts in the 
matter. 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HAT^COCK. 193 

Whenever a case arises for the interposition of 
the powers vested in the Commanding General by 
the acts of Congress, he will promptly exercise 
them for the maintenance of law and order. 

I am, sir, very respectfully, your obedient ser- 
vant. 

W. Gr. Mitchell, 

Bvt. Lieut-Col., U. S. A., Sec'j for Civil Affairs. 

Letter of General Hancock to General 
Howard, on the Usurpation of the Freed- 
men's Bureau. 

head-quarters fifth military district, 

New Orleans, La., February 24, 1868. 

Major-General 0. 0. Howard, Commissioner of 
Bureau Refugees, Freedmen, mid Abandoned 
Lands ^ Washington, D. C, 

General : — Referring to the report of Captain 
E. Collins, Seventeenth Infantry, Sub-assistant 
Commissioner of the Bureau Refuges, Freedmen, 
and Abandoned Lands, at Brenham, Texas, dated 
December 31, 1867, and transmitted by you for my 
information, I have the honer to state that I do not 
understand how any orders of mine can be inter- 

13 



194 GEIS^. WINPIELD S. HANCOCK. 

pretecl as interfering with the proper execution of 
the law creating the Bureau. It is certainly not 
my intention that they should so interfere. Any- 
thing complained of in that letter, which could 
have lawfully been remedied by the exercise of 
military authority, should have received the action 
of General Reynolds, who, being Military Com- 
mander, and also Assistant Commissioner for 
Texas, was the proper authority to apply the 
remedy, and to that end was vested with the neces- 
sary power. 

A copy of the report of Captain Collins had 
already been forwarded to me by General Reynolds 
before the receipt of your communication, and had 
been returned to him January IGth, with the fol- 
lowing indorsement: "Respectfully returned to 
Brevet Major-General J. J. Reynolds, command: 
ing District of Texas. 

" This paper seems to contain only vague and 
indefinite complaints, without specific action as to 
any particular cases. If Captain Collins has any 
special cases of the nature referred to in his com- 
munication, which require action at these head- 
quarters, he can transmit them, and they will 
receive attention." 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 195 

No reply has been received to this — a proof 
either of the non-existence of such special cases,- or 
of neglect of duty on the part of Captain Collins in 
not reporting them. It is, and will be my pleasure 
as well as duty, to aid you and the officers and 
agents under your direction, in the proper execu- 
tion of the law. I have just returned from a trip 
to Texas. Whilst there I passed through Brenham 
twice, and saw Captain Collins, but neither from 
him nor from Gen. Reynolds did I hear anything 
in regard to this subject, so far as I recollect. 

There are numerous abuses of authority on the 
part of certain agents of the Bureau in Texas, and 
Gen. Reynolds is •already investigating some of 
them. 

My intention is to confine the agents of the 
Bureau within their legitimate authority, so far as 
my power as District Commander extends ; further 
than that it is not my intention or desire to inter- 
fere with the Freedmen's Bureau. I can say, 
however, that had the District Commander a 
superior control over the freedmen's affairs in the 
district, the Bureau would be as useful, and would 
work more harmoniously, and be more in favor 
with the people. At present there is a clashing 



196 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

of authority. I simply mention the facts without 
desiring any such control. 

The Reconstruction Acts charge district com- 
manders with the duty of protecting all persons in 
their rights of person and property ; and to this 
end authorize them to allow local civil tribunals 
to take jurisdiction of, and tr}^ offenders ; or, if in 
their opinion necessary, to organize a military 
commission or tribunals for that purpose. 

They are thus given control over all criminal 
proceedings for violation of the statute laws of the 
States, and for such other offenses as are not by 
law made triable by the United States Courts. 
The Reconstruction Acts exempt no class of 
persons from their operation, and the duty of 
protecting cell persons in their rights of person and 
property, of necessity invests district commanders 
with control over the agents of the Bureau, to the 
extent of at least enabling them to restrain these 
agents from any interference with, or disregard of 
their prerogatives as district commanders. 

The district commanders are made responsible 
for the preservation of peace, and the enforcement 
of the local laws within their districts ; and they 
are the ones required to designate the tribunals 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 197 

before wliicli those who break the peace and 
violate these laws shall be tried. 

Such being the fact, many of the agents of the 
Bureau seem not to be aware of it. In Texas 
some are yet holding Courts, trying cases, imposing 
fines, taking fees for services, and arresting citizens 
for offenses over which the Bureau is not intended 
by law to have jurisdiction. 

General Reynolds is aware of some of these 
cases, and is, as I have already mentioned, giving 
his attention to them. 

In Louisiana, this state of affairs exists to a less 
extent, if at all. 

I am, General, very respectfully, your obedient 
servant, 

W. S. Hancock, 

Major-General U. S. Army, Commanding. 

About the date of the preceding letter, however, 
the time had arrived when it was thought neces- 
sary by the controlling powers at Washington to 
supersede General Hancock's administration in 
Louisiana and Texas, it being deemed an obstacle 
in the way of the Congressional plan of recon- 
struction, which contemplated the complete sup- 



198 GEN. AVIlSrFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

pression of the civil authorities of those States, and 
the substitution of military commissions. General 
Garfield, the chairman of the Military Committee 
in the House of Representatives, introduced a bill 
to reduce the number of Major-Generals in the 
Army, with the avowed object of getting rid of 
Hancock, and thus punish him for his steadfast 
subordination of the military to the civil jurisdic- 
tion. This bill, however, was never pressed to its 
passage, being deemed by those friendly to its 
object as too likely to excite a popular demonstra- 
tion in favor of the persecuted individual. 

A safer method was adopted. General Grant, 
having been invested by Congress with extraordi- 
nary powers, so as to be no longer responsible to 
the President, his constitutional commander-in- 
chief, was induced to interfere in such manner with 
General Hancock's official action as to humiliate 
him before the people he was sent to govern. This 
naturally soon led to General Hancock's applica- 
tion to be relieved of his command. 

About this time he wrote to a friend in Congress, 
as follows : 

... "I hope to be relieved here soon. The 
President is no longer able to protect me. So that 



GEIS^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 199 

I may expect one humiliation after another, until 
I am forced to resign. I am prepared for any 
event. Nothing can intimidate me from doing 
what I believe to be honest and right."' 

His letter to Governor Pease, in which General 
Hancock vindicated the justice and policy of his 
administration, bears date the 9th of March, 1868, 
and on the 16th of the same month (seven days 
afterward) he was relieved of his command. 



CHAPTER XXI. 

GENERAL Hancock's nomination. 

On June 22d, the Democratic Convention assem- 
bled at Cincinnati. The proceedings of the next 
day, after the naming of candidates, were confined 
to one ballot. General Hancock was placed in 
nomination by Mr. Daniel Dougherty, of Philadel- 
phia, a born orator and a finished rhetorician, who 
worked up to the name of Winfield Scott Hancock 
with consummate skill, making the first genuine sen- 
sation of the session. Mr. Dougherty said : 

I rise to nominate one whose name would reconcile all 
factions, whose election would crush the last embers of 
sectional strife, and be hailed as the dawning of the day of 
perpetual brotherhood. With him we can fling away our 
shields and wage an ap^gressive war. We can appeal to 
the supreme tribunal of the American people against the 
corruption of the Republican party and their untold vio- 
lations of constitutional liberty. With him as our chief- 
tain, the bloody banner of the Republicans will fall from 

200 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 201 

tlieir palsied grasp. Oli! my countrymen, in this supreme 
moment, wlien the destinies of the Eepublic are at stake, 
when tlie liberties of the people are imperiled, I rise to 
present to the thoughtful consideration of this Conven- 
tion the name of one who, on the field of battle, was 
styled "the superb," yet who has won a nobler re- 
nown as the military Governor, whose first act on assum- 
ing command of Louisiana and Texas was to salute the 
constitution by proclaiming, amid the joyous greetings of 
an oppressed people, that the military, save in actual war, 
shall be subservient to the civil power. The plighted 
word of the soldier was proved in the statesman's acts. 
I name him whose name will suppress every faction, 
is alike acceptable to the E'orth and South, and will thrill 
the land from end to end. The people hang breathless on 
your deliberation. Take heed ! Make no misstep ! I 
nominate one who can carry every Southern State, and 
who can carry Pennsylvania, Indiana, Connecticut, New 
Jersey, and New York — the soldier-statesman, with a rec- 
ord as stainless as his sword — Winfield Scott Hancock, 
of Pennsylvania. If elected he will take his seat. 

For the next five minutes after that telling sen- 
tence it was '' Haftcock," *' Hancock," *' Hancock,'' 
with a series of roof-raising yells. 

Governor Hubbard, of Texas, said it was peculiarly fit 
that Texas and Louisiana should respond to Hancock's 



202 GEK^. WIXFIELD S. HAI^COCK. 

nomination, because, wlien the war closed, there came down 
through the South a race of carpet-baggers, like the Yan- 
dals of okl, preying on her wasted substance, and the jails 
and bastiles were filled with prisoners by order of the mil- 
itary Governors, and then, in that darkness of the night, 
there came a voice saying, " The war has closed ; unbar 
your dungeons and open your forts." (Cheers.) That 
man was Hancock. " It is an easy thing," he said, '' to be 
a summer friend. The world and hell are full of tliem. 
(Laughter and cheers.) But this man knew that he was 
in the power of the Republican party, and liis official head 
was cut off. That is a man to whom it will do to intrust 
the standard of our party." (Cheers.) 



The result of the first ballot was as follows : 

Delegates. 

Hancock 171 

Bayard 153^ 

Payne 81 

Thurman ., QSh 

Field 65 

Morrison 62 

Hendricks 50^ 

Tilden 38 

Ewing 10 

Sej^mour 8 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 203 

Delegates, 

Randall 6 

Loveland 5 

McDonald 3 

McClellan 3 

Parker 1 

Black 1 

Jewett 1 

English 1 

Lothrop 1 

Total delegates voting 729^ 

Absent 82 

Total delegates 738 

iNoTE. — Each delegate having, according to Democratic 
custom, only half a vote, the actual number of full votes 
in the above ballot can be obtained by dividing the num- 
ber given by two. There are 369 full votes in the Con- 
vention ; necessary to a choice under the two-thirds rule, 
246, or the voice of 492 delegates. 

On the 24th inst., Governor Stevenson called 
the Convention to order at 11 o'clock. The dele- 
gates arose while prayer was offered by the Rev. 
Charles Taylor. He prayed for that unanimity 



204 GEX. TTIXFIELD S. HAISTCOCK. 

and harmony in tlie Convention so needful to 
accoraj3lisli tlie patriotic end which it had in view ; 
that individual members might lay aside their 
personal predilections for the highest welfare of 
the whole nation ; that the choice of the Con- 
vention might result in the election of a man of 
enduring character, blameless in life, unsullied in 
reputation, and of exalted patriotism, and that 
those elected might occupy their stations. 

After the pra3'er, the Chair recognized Rufus W. 
Peckham. of Albany. Mr. Peck ham was address- 
ing the Chair from the floor, when he was inter- 
rupted by cries of " Platform ! Platform !" On the 
invitation of the Chair he obeyed the call. As his 
face appeared above the desk, it was greeted 
with loud applause. He said : 

"I wish to make a statement on behalf of the 
delegation of New York. With great interest 
have they heard the votes in different States given 
for the honored statesman from Xew York, Samuel 
J.Tilden." 

A whirlwind broke over the galleries. The 
cheering was long and loud. 

Gov. Stevenson thundered on his desk with his 
ponderous mallet. " Gentlemen,'' he said, '' order 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HAXCOCK. 205 

must be preserved or the galleries must be 
cleared." 

He had barely succeeded in allaying the storm, 
when some one sounded the Hancock war-cry, 
and there was a second cyclone. The Governor 
pounded his desk. He gave the galleries what he 
was pleased to term a final warning, and his 
admonition was repeated by a powerful sergeant- 
at-arms on the main floor. 

Mr. Peckham said the delegation from Xew 
York had received a letter from Mr. Tilden, with- 
drawing from the field. Knowing him to be honest 
and straightforward, they took it as a renunciation 
of all claims. '' And," said Mr. Peckham, " I now 
present this letter, to be used as this Convention 
may see fit. The New York delegation have 
agreed upon a candidate. He is a statesman with- 
out reproach, and one who is every way worthy 
of the highest station. They have decided to cast 
their vote in favor of the Speaker of the House of 
Representatives." 

The Randall men broke into loud cheers, and 
half of the Iowa delegation rose and waved their 
hats. Mr. Peckham then formally placed Mr. 
Randall in nomination, and left the platform. 



206 GEI^. WIIN^FIELD S. HA]S^COCK. 

Gov. Stevenson said : "The Hon. Samuel J. 
Randall has been added to the list of candidates 
for the Presidency.'' 

A delegate called for the reading of Mr. Tilden's 
letter. 

Shouts of '' No ! no ! " were heard, mingled with 
cries of " Yote ! vote !" 

The Chair tested the sense of the Convention 
by putting the motion for the reading of the 
letter to ?i viva voce Yote. He declared the motion 
lost amid some confusion. 

The Hancock men were evidently in a majority, 
and were forcing the fight. A resolution concern- 
ing the proscription of citizens for their religious be- 
liefs was referred to the Committee on Resolutions. 

The tumult continued. The names of candi- 
dates were read, and the clerk was directed to 
call the roll for the second ballot. Half the dele- 
gates were on their feet in conference, and every 
neck in the gallery was craned to catch the first 
response. 

Alabama led off with 11 for Hancock, 5 for 
Bayard, and 4 for Field. It was a gain of 4 for 
the old clover-leaf corps. 

Arkansas remained wedded to Field. 



GEIT. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 207 

When California was called, the five pioneers of 
the watch-fire marched to the music of the Hancock 
bugle. Half of the delegates drew closer to the 
Field banner. 

Colorado held firmly for Field. 

Connecticut gave her English-American, 11 of 
her 12 votes. 

Delaware remained devoted to Baj^ard, and 
Florida gave in her votes without a break. 

" Illinois," shouted the clerk in a ringing tone 
of voice. The answer came back in measured 
words: '' Illinois casts her 42 votes for Gen. Win- 
field S. Hancock." 

The galleries saw its efi'ect, and burst into a 
roar of enthusiasm. The Chair rapped in vain. 
Nine States out of the thirty -seven had been 
called. The Hero of the old Army of the Potomac 
had already gained 51 votes, and the pent-up 
feeling could not be restrained. Delegates arose 
in various quarters, and vigorously fanned the ex- 
citement. The Hancock banner began to dance 
before the great organ, and repeated swells of en- 
thusiasm chased each other over the galleries. 
Five minutes passed, and there was comparative 
order. 



208 GB^, WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

The clerk called the State of Indiana. 

Yoorhees and McDonald were commanding; a 
Spartan band. It stood solid for Hendricks, 
breaking the Hancock wave for a moment only. 

Iowa tried to shoot through the breakers with a 
Eandall crew, but left nine of her delegates on the 
sand. They voted for Hancock, and were loudly 
cheered. 

Kansas re-enforced the nine Hawkeyes, and went 
solid for the patriotic soldier. 

Kentucky also caught the fever. Eight of her 
delegates unrolled the Hancock flag. There was 
continual cheering along the line. 

Louisiana and Maine threw their 30 votes in the 
scale as they had done on the previous day, thus 
adding to the enthusiasm. Hancock had gained 
63 votes. 

Maryland was called. They stood to their 
Bayard colors. 

Eleven of the Massachusetts delegation went to 
Hancock, and were loudly cheered. An equal 
number ran over to Bayard. 

Michigan came to the front witli 14 Hancock 
recruits, a gain of nine, and Minnesota followed 
with a solid deleg-ation. Eiohteen States out of 



GEI^. WINFIELD S. IIAlv^COCK. 209 

37 had voted. Hancock gained 84 votes in a total 
of 167. Waves of applause were rolling over the 
Convention, and electric flashes were bringing 
into light the coming man. 

Hancock gained 4 in Mississippi and 16 in Mis- 
souri. These figures threw his supporters into 
ecstasies. Every pulse was quickened, and cries 
of delioiht nearlv drowned the roll call. 

Nebraska went over to Randall, eliciting some 
laughter. 

Nevada threw her strength away on Field, 
Eandall, and Thurman. 

New Hampshire became half Hancock and half 
Randall — and New Jersey was called, and asked 
the Clerk to pass the State for the present. It was 
done. 

''New York," the Clerk shouted. 

"The State of New York casts her seventy 
votes for Samuel J. Randall/' Mr. Manning replied. 
Cheers followed, toned by a few hisses. The sev- 
enty votes had come too late in the day. New 
York was too far down on the roll. 

The old North State gave her twenty votes for 
the man of Governor's Island, and the cheering was 
tremendous. 

14 



210 GE]^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

Ohio was called. Her Chairman asked permis- 
sion to retire for consultation. It was granted, 
and Gens. Steadman and Diirbin Ward, Mr. 
McSweeney, Judge Hoadly, and John G. Thomp- 
son, with their string of delegates, tranquilly went 
from the hall. 

Oregon was called. She still kept step to Field 
music, nor did she show an}^ sign of wavering. 

Amid the greatest confusion Pennsylvania asked 
to be passed. 

Rhode Island gave her votes to Hancock, and 
South Carolina clung to the chivalric Bayard. 
Twenty-eight of the tbirt^^-seven States had voted, 
including the great State of New York. Ohio, 
Penns^ivania, and New Jersey were sulking. 
Hancock had gained 127 votes, and had a total of 
232. 

Tennessee felt the electric shock. She gave 
Field 2 votes, Bayard 8, and Hancock 14. 

The Rangers of Texas traveled the same road, 
giving the Stainless Soldier 11 of her 16 ^otes. 

Vermont, the former home of General W. F. 
Smith, threw her 10 votes solid for the nomina- 
tion of his old comrade. 

Virginia was in a quandary. She asked the in- 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 211 

diligence of the Convention, and was passed. Her 
twin sister gave Hancock 7 of her 10 votes, and 
Wisconsin turned in 10 of her 20. The Soldier 
Statesman had gained 145 votes, and had a total 
of 284. All eyes were turned toward the sulking 
States of New Jersey, Pennsylvania, Ohio, and 
Yirginia. New Jersey was the first called. She 
gave 7 votes for Hancock, leaving 4 for Bayard, 
4 for Randall, 2 for Joel Parker, and 1 for Jewett. 
The Hancock legion greeted the announcement 
with fresh cheers. 

"Ohio" was next called. Her benches were 
nearly empty. A stout gentleman in a check 
summer suit of clothing, understood to be Con- 
gressman Hill, replied : '^Mr. Cliairman, the chair- 
man of the Ohio delegation is absent, but in obedi- 
ence to instructions from 300,000 Ohio Democrats, 
I take it upon myself to cast her 44 votes for Allen 
G. Thurman." There were some hisses. 

The State was passed. 

A second time, in breathless silence, the Clerk 
called the State of Pennsylvania. Mr. Hoy re- 
turned 31 for Hancock, 26 for Randall, and 1 for 
Bayard. W. L. Scott had got in his work. 

The Convention was wrapped in another flurry 



212 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

of Hancock entbusiasm. It resembled the cheer- 
ing of the old Second Arm}^ Corps. It had hardly 
died away before Yirginia was called, and she 
divided nearly equalh^ between Hancock, Bayard, 
and Field. Hancock, however, had made a net gain, 
and another wave of applause rolled over the hall. 

All the States were in but Ohio. She was still 
sulking in an ante-room. The Convention was 
becoming impatient. The Buckeyes were spurred 
to decision. They ran into the hall from a side 
door, and returned 44 votes for Thurman. A 
shout of disappointment greeted the return, but it 
broke into a cry of joy when Pennsylvania cor- 
rected her vote by subtracting one from the Ran- 
dall and adding it to the Hancock score. 

All the States had voted, and the clerks were 
making their tally. The sulking States had in- 
creased Hancock's gain 15 votes, making a net 
gain of 160 votes over the first ballot. He had a 
total of 330 votes ; Randall w^as behind him with 
128, Bayard was third in the race with 113, Field 
fourth with 65 votes, and the remainder were dis- 
tributed between Thurman, Hendricks, Tilden, 
English, Joel Parker, and Jewett. Mr. Tilden 
had six votes. 



GEIS". WINFIELD S. HANCOCK 213 

It required 492 votes to secure the nomination, 
and Hancock lacked 162 of the required number. 
Before the figures could be footed, the Wisconsin 
delegation asked permission to change its vote. 
Every body was up, and the Convention was iu 
the utmost disorder. The Chairman i3ut the ques- 
tion : 

"The State of Wisconsin asks permission to 
change its vote. Shall leave be granted ? All of 
you in favor of it say a^^e." There was a storm of 
ayes both from the floor and from the galleries. 

"All of you opposed say No," Gov. Stevenson 
shouted. 

There were scattering nays, but they were al- 
most inaudible in the general uproar. 

" The yeas have it," the Governor said. 

Wisconsin then cast her 20 votes for Gen. Han- 
cock. The uproar increased. 

New Jersey was up. She had settled her diffi- 
culties, and the face of Col. Zulick was wreathed 
in smiles. She swung into line right gallantly, 
and cast her 18 votes for Hancock. The din was 
deafening. 

The Chairman recognized Mr. Hoy of Pennsyl- 
vania. He had struggled to the front of the plat- 



214 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

form, and had mounted the seat of a Vermont 
delegate. His eyes were burning with excitement. 
The noise of the multitude decreased until it was 
an expectant murmur. The speaker was heard 
by the most of the delegates. He said that Penn- 
sylvania was proud of Gen. Hancock and Randall 
— one a gallant soldier and the other an honest 
statesman. They were both honorable names, and 
both were worthy of the nomination. The Key- 
stone State would not hesitate at the call of her 
sister States. On behalf of the iinited delegation 
from Pennsylvania, he was authorized to cast her 
58 votes for Gen. Winfield Scott Hancock. 

Hancock had received in all 377 votes. He was 
still 115 votes short of the required two-thirds. 

All the State bannerets began to dance. The 
Randall men brought their gonfalons to the front 
of the stage, and planted them on each side of the 
great Hancock banner. The pennants of States 
were finally grouped around the picture of Gen. 
Jackson in front of the Chairman's desk. 

Smith M. Weed, of New York, mounted his chair 
and sought recognition. Before he could obtain 
it, the whole Convention went crazy with delight. 
Apparently satisfied that the nomination of the 



ge:n'. winfield s. hais^cock. 215 

gallant soldier was a foregone conclusion, every 
delegate and spectator gave himself up to his im- 
pulses. Amid the roar W. J. Dowdall began to 
wave the blue pennant of Illinois. Umbrellas 
were opened, hats were raised on canes. The tiers 
of ladies near the great organ were turned into a 
foam of handkerchiefs. The picture of Hancock 
was planted on the Chairman's desk, and greeted 
with terrific cheering. The banner bore the fol- 
lowing inscriptions : 

RIGHT OF TRIAL BY JURY. ! 



HABEAS CORPUS. 



LIBERTY OF THE PRESS. 



FREEDOM OF SPEECH. 



THE NATURAL RIGHTS OF PERSONS AND THE I 
RIGHTS OF PROPERTY MUST BE PRESERVED. I 

It was a tornado before which all other demon- 



216 GEN^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

strations were mere showers. The band added a 
volume of harmony to the uproar, and the great 
organ thundered an accompaniment. 

Dowdall, of Illinois, then mounted a tally clerk's 
table on the main platform, and sent the azure 
guidon of Illinois toward the ceiling. 

Delegates from Mississippi and Yirginia planted 
their pennants at the side of the Illinois guidon, 
and the golden rooster of the Young Men's Demo- 
cratic Club of Hamilton County flew between 
them and crowed lustily. It was a scene of the 
wildest excitement. Two or three Oregon delegates 
fought for the honor of planting the banner of their 
State at the front. The hurricane lasted fully fif- 
teen minutes. Gov. Stevenson became restless, 
and again lustily pounded his desk. 

Smith M. Weed, still on the seat of the Vermont 
delegate, was appealing for recognition within ten 
feet of the old Governor's nose. He got it, and 
amid the subsidence of the gale^ announced that 
New York had chano;ed her 70 votes from Eandall 
to Hancock. The gale broke out afresh under the 
general impression that the vote of New York had 
filled the required two-thirds, and that General 
Hancock was already the chosen standard-bearer 



GEIT. Wn^FIELD S. HANCOCK. 217 

of the National Democracy. It was not so, how- 
ever. His total vote was 447, being 45 less than 
the required two-thirds. 

In the height of the second tornado, Ohio trans- 
ferred her 44 votes to the winner. 

Gov. Preston, of Kentucky, got the floor, and 
the countrymen of Henry Clay fell into line with 
two or three exceptions. It was the vote of Ken- 
tucky that really gave the nomination to the Union 
soldier. 

The tornado was still roaring through the hall, 
and the confusion was indescribable. Tennessee 
went to Hancock in a solid body, howling her way 
to recognition. After that the States could not get 
over fast enough. 

Barnum, of Connecticut, was on his feet shaking 
his fan at the Chairman, and Thomas S. Bocock, 
of Virginia, was shouting for recognition. Wade 
Hampton was propped on his crutches, awaiting an 
opportunity to announce the surrender of the Bay- 
ard men in the Palmetto State. 

The clerks lost their tallies in the tumult, and 
there was a motion for a new call of the roll for a 
correct ballot. It was passed by a viva voce vote, 
and after an uproar lasting forty-five minutes, the 



218 



GEIf. WIT^^FIELD S. HANCOCK. 



Convention finally dammed the flood of enthusiasm, 
and again got down to business. The Chair asked 
the galleries to restrain themselves until the roll 
call was finished and the result was announced. A 
loud-voiced deputy sergeant-at-arms repeated the 
request at the rear of the hall. The roll was called. 
Each State voted solid for Hancock until Indi- 
ana was called. She cast 30 votes for Hendricks, 
and went under with her colors nailed to the mast. 
A solitary Tilden straw floated on the surface 
when Iowa was called, and two Maryland dele- 
gates went to the wall in the fealty to Bayard. 
The votes of New York, Ohio, and Pennsylvania 
were loudly cheered. The ballot resulted as fol- 
lows ; 

THE SECOND BALLOT. 



States. 


1 


r 

1 


1 


a. 


Alabama 


20 
12 
12 


11 
5 


— 


5 


Arkansas. . ... 




California ... 







1 


^ 

i 
■^ 


1 


"1. 


1 










1 


o5 


2^ 


■t^ 


^ 




4 

1^ 


— 


— 


— 


= 


— 







5 


— 


1 


— 


— 









GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 



219 



States, 


f 




^ 
s 

^ 


^ 
^ 

^ 


1' 


KC3 


r 




1 






Colorado 


6 
12 
6 
8 
22 
42 
30 
22 
10 
24 
16 
14 
16 
26 
22 
10 
16 
30 
6 
6 
10 
18 
70 
20 
44 
6 
58 


7 
42 

9 

10 

8 

16 

M 

11 
14 

10 

6 
28 

5 

7 

20 
32 


12 

1 

6 
1 
5 
4 
70 

25 


1 
6 
8 
5 

1 

7 

16 
7 
4 

8 
2 

4 
1 


6 

10 

4 

~n 

' 2 
4 

6 


30 

2 

1 
44 


~ 


11 

2 


z 

3 

2 
1 




2 




Connecticut 

Delaware 


— 


Florida 





Georgia 





Illinois 





Indiana 





Iowa 





Kansas 


. 


Kentucky 





Louisiana 


, 


Maine 


; 


Maryland 





Massachusetts 

Michigan 





Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri 





Nebraska 





Nevada 





Hew Hampshire . . . 

New Jersey 

New York 

North Carolina 

Ohio 


1 


Oregon 





Pennsylvania 


— 



220 



GEN". WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 



States. 


! 






1 


!3^ 










2^ 


1 


Eliode Island 

South Carolina . . . 

Tennessee 

Texas 


8 

14 
24 
16 


6 

14 
11 


1 


14 

8 
5 

8 
1 

2 


2 

7 
2 




2 
1 




1 

5 


— 


— 





Vermont 


10 10 

22[ 7 
lOi 7 
20| 10 




Yirorinia 




West Virginia 

Wisconsin 


— 


Total 


738 320 


128J 


113 


65i 


50 


31 


19 


6 


2 


1 



Note. — The total number of delegates voting was 736. 
One delegate from California and two delegates from 
Massachusetts (each of whom, in consequence of the 
admission of both contesting delegations, was entitled 
to half the voting power of a delegate from another 
State) did not vote. 



g:en. wii^field s. iiancock. 



221 



REVISED VOTE ON SECOND BALLOT. 



States. 


b 
t 

a 
.^ 


1 




1 

• 


5S 


Alabama 


20 
12 
12 
6 
12 

8 
22 
42 
80 
22 
lu 
24 
16 
14 
16 
26 
22 
10 
16 
30 

6 


20 
12 
12 

6 
12 

6 

8 

22 

42 

21 
10 
24 
16 
14 
14 
26 
22 
10 
16 
30 
6 


30 


2 




Arkansas ......... 





California 

Colorado 





Connecticut 

Delaware 





Florida 





Georgia 





Illinois 





Indiana 





Iowa 


1 


Kansas 





Kentucky 

Louisiana 

Maine 





Maryland 

Massachusetts 

Michigan 

Minnesota 

Mississippi 

Missouri 





Nebraska 






222 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 



States, 


1 


i 


1 


1 


1 


Nevada 


6 
10 

18 
70 
20 

6 
58 

8 
14 
24 
16 
10 
22 
10 
20 



10 
18 
70 
20 
44 

6 
58 

8 
14 
24 
16 
10 
22 
10 
20 


— 






New Hampshire . . 

New Jersey 

New York 

North Carolina 

Ohio 


— 


Orecon 




Pennsylvania 

Ehode Island 

South Carolina .... 

Tennessee 

Texas 


— 


Vermont 




Virginia 




West Virginia 

Wisconsin 


— 






Total 


738 


705 


30 


2 


1 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 



223 



SUMMARY OF THE BALLOTS. 









2d hallot 


Candidates. 


1st hallot. 


2d hallot. 


revised. 


Hancock 


17i 


320 
31 


705 


Hendricks 


49i 


30 


Bayard 


. . . 1531 


113 


2 


Tilden 


38 


6 


1 


Kandall 


6 


1281 


— 


Field 


65 


65i 


— 


Tlmrman 


681 


51 


— 


English 


1 


19 


— 


Parker 


1 


2 


— 


Jewett 


1 


1 


— 


Payne 


81 


— 


— ■ 


Mon-ison 


62 


— 


— 


Ewing 


10 


— 


— 


Seymour 


8 








Loveland 


5 


— 




McClellan 


3 


— 


McDonald 


3 


— 


— 


Black 


1 


— 


— 


Latliorp 


1 


— 


— 



AFTER THE NOMINATION. 



A third whirlwind swept the Convention from 
its feet. The Hancock banner was a^'ain brou.Q-ht 



224 GE]^. wi:rfield s. hai^cock. 

to the front, and the band struck up " Hail Col- 
umbia,'' the great organ pealing an accompaniment. 
The band changed to the lively air of " Bullj^ for 
Us," and Judge Hoadly and the wonderful 
McSweeny, of Ohio, essayed an old-fashioned hoe- 
down in the right aisle. 

When order was restored, Wm. Mack, of Indiana, 
appeared at the Chairman's desk. He said he had 
heard hisses when Indiana had cast her last ballot 
for her favorite son. He trusted that the\^ did not 
come from Democratic lips. The Indiana dele- 
gates had carried out the instructions of the Demo- 
cratic State Convention. " On behalf of the Indiana 
Delegation," he said, " I rise to move that the 
nomination of General Hancock be made unan- 
imous. He was Indiana's second choice, and 
when you hear from that State in the coming fall, 
you will find that she has again turned the flank of 
the Republican party, and is pointing the way to 
a Democratic victory." After the cheering had 
subsided, Samuel J. Randall and Senator Wallace, 
of Pennsylvania, came to the platform arm in arm, 
and advanced to the chairman s desk. This meant 
a united Democratic vote in Pennsylvania for 
HancocL But the personal rivalries of party 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 225 

leaders are not usually settled in this man- 
ner. 

The Chairman said: ''Gentlemen, I have the 
pleasure of introducing to you a distinguished gen- 
tleman, who has been voted for for President, and 
who desires to second the nomination. I present 
to you Samuel J. Randall, of Pennsylvania. [Ap- 
plause.] 

Mr. Randall said : 

SAMUEL J. Randall's speech. 

Fellow Democeats : — I am here to second the nomina- 
tion of Pennsylvania's son, General Hancock. [Ap- 
plause.] Your dehberations have been marked by the 
utmost harmony, and your act is an expression of the 
heart of the American Democrat in every State in the 
Union. [Applause.] Not only is your nomination 
strong, but it is one that will bring us victory [applause], 
arid we will add another State to the Democratic cohimn 
—the gi^eat commonwealth of Pennsylvania [applause], 
the keystone of the Federal arms. Not only is this ac- 
ceptable to every Democrat of the United States, but is 
a nomination which will command the respect of the en- 
tire American people. [Applause.] I Avill not detain 
you loDger than to say that you will find me in the front 
rank of this conflict, second to none, and that every ener- 
gy of my mind, and every energy of my brain will be given 
15 



226 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

from now until we shall all rejoice in a common vic- 
tory on the November Tuesday coming. [Applause.] 
There is a great mission ahead of the Democratic party, 
and you have selected a standard-bearer whose very nom- 
ination means that if the people ratify your choice, he 
will be inaugurated. [Applause.] I thank you for this 
cordial greeting, and I beg of you not to suppose for a 
moment that I am in the least discomfited, but on the 
contrary, my whole heart goes forth with your voice, and 
I will yield to no man in the effort which shall be made 
in behalf of your ticket chosen this da3^ [Applause.] 

The Chair will have the honor to present to you Sen- 
ator "Wallace, of Pennsylvania, who desires to assure you 
that Pennsylvania is safe for Hancock. 

Mr. Wallace then took the platform. He said : 



MR. Wallace's speech. 

Gentlemen of the Convention :— On behalf of the 
great Keystone State of the Union our delegation sends 
to you thanks and greetings. History repeats itself. 
In this great city of Cincinnati, the Democrats of the 
nation named their last President, and to-day they name 
their next. [Cheers.] History repeats itself. In those 
days they named a son of Pennsylvania, and to-day 
again they inscribe upon the banner of Democracy the 
name of a gallant son of the Commonwealth of Pennsyl- 
vania. He will lead us to victory. His name is invinci- 



GETT. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 227 

ble. The word rings out, "Advance the cohimn, move 
on the enemy's works ! " Let there be no defence, but 
aggression, aggression, aggression, and the victory is 
ours. [Cheers.] On behalf of that great Commonwealth 
as one of her sons, I came here to assure you that I feel, 
as does every member of her delegation, that you have 
given us in this nomination the means once more of 
placing the Keystone in the column of the Democratic 
States [cheers], and when November shall have come 
you will find that the energies of those who now clasp 
hands in behalf of this, our standard-bearer, will have 
worked wonders in that Commonwealth. 

Eloquent addresses were then made by Wade 
Hampton, Mr. Breckenridge of Kentucky, John 
Kelly, and Col. Fellows. 

Judge Hoadly said that the Democracy of Ohio 
was re-united by the nomination of Hancock, and 
the Chairman created some laughter by saying; 
*' I now declare Winfield Scott the unanimous Pres- 
ident of the United States." In a second he cor- 
rected himself. " I now declare," he said, "Win- 
field Scott Hancock the unanimous choice of this 
Convention as the Democratic candidate for the 
President of the United States." The organ peal- 
ed the "Star Spangled Banner." The band then 



228 GEN. WINFIELD S. HAT^COCK. 

played "America," the organ coming in with thun- 
dering effect at the lines : 

Land where our fathers died, 
Land of the pilgrim's pride. 

When the music ceased the Randall banner was 
shown in new colors. It bore the inscription : 

: For President, I 

: WINFIELD SCOTT HANCOCK : 

I of Pennsylvania. : 

And it brought down the house. General Faulk- 
ner, of New York, said : 

GEN. Faulkner's speech. 

Mr. Peesident and Fellow Democrats : — You have 
heard from the State which four years ago gave you a 
candidate for the Vice-Presidency of the United States. 
I am instructed to utter to you the voice of that great 
Commonwealth from which, in the person of that most 
illustrious of her Governors, you took your candidate 
for the first place in the Federal Government. That 
choice was ratified by the American people. Their 
choice was defeated by one vote in the Electoral Com- 
mission. The conspirator who cast that vote is now pre- 
sented by his party as a fit candidate to be rewarded by 
a high office. On such a question, a question whether 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 229 

the Presidency of the United States, having been once 
stolen, shall now be made an infirmary for political out- 
casts. New York in her strength will speak in November 
with her unanimous voice. [Applause.] In 1801, when 
Thomas Jefferson brought his great power in favor of 
popular rights against arbitrary power, he had the aid of 
John Breckenridge, of Kentucky. Winfield Scott Han- 
cock will have the aid of another Breckenridge, whom I 
now introduce to you from the same State. 

ENTER JOHN KELLY WITH THE PIPE OF PEACE AN- 
OTHER WILD SCENE. 

Mr. Breckenridge had hardly concluded before 
there was a wild cheer at the further end of the 
hall. John Kelly, Judge Parker, Augustus Schell, 
Nathaniel C. Moak, and other luminary chiefs ap- 
peared. They were greeted with tremendous ap- 
plause, all the delegation arising to receive them, 
with the exception of the one from New York. 
The Tammany men mounted the platform. Man- 
ning, Jacobs, Fellows, Faulkner, Beebe, Fox, Bliss, 
Norton, Bowe, Shea, and the representative mem- 
bers of the delegation sat as solid as marble stat- 
ues, and gave no sign of life. There were loud 
calls for Kelly. He went to the Speaker's desk 
with a smile of triumph. He said ; 



230 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 



MR. Kelly's speech. 



Gentlemen of the Convention : — ^Your Chairman had 
told you that by your action of to-day in nominating Gen. 
Hancock, you have united the Democracy of the State 
of New York. [Shouts of applause and hisses.] He 
has told you truly. [Applause, and a voice " Hurrah ! "J 
"While myself and my brethren here on the right have 
been fighting each other politically for the last five years, 
they no doubt will agree with what I am going to say — 
let past differences be banished from our midst. [Great 
applause and cheers.] I am not going to speak to you 
now of what has occurred since we came to the city of 
Cincinnati. Never again shall I refer in a political way 
to what has transpired in the State in which we live. 
[Applause.] We haye disagreed simply politically. 
Our personal relations were never severed, though some- 
times our political anxieties often lead us into making 
passionate remarks against each other. In our sober 
moments, when we have time to reflect, then we see like 
sensible men, that we have committed an error, and are 
willing to ask each other's forgiveness. [Applause, 
cheers, and a voice, " Good for you."] I think that my 
friends here upon the right, as I said, agree with me 
upon this question, that the great State of New York 
cannot be carried unless there be a united Democracy in 
that State. Now that we are united, I think that it will 
be safe for me to say to this Convention, that there can 
be no doubt as to what the result would be in that State 



GEIT. WIKFIELD S. HANCOCK. 231 

in November next. [Great applause.] You have nom- 
inated not only a great soldier, but a statesman. When 
intrusted with power by the Government, he recollected 
the fact that he owed to the people of this country a 
duty, and when the Government expected, clothed with 
the military authority as he was, that he should take the 
place of the civil power, he, like a sensible man, like a 
true patriot, Hke a noble American, said : " Let the civil 
power first be tried, and when the military power is 
wanted to suppress riot, or to do anything else that may 
be needed to protect our Government, I am always your 
servant." Now, gentlemen, you have nominated a sol- 
dier. We have had a great war among the people of this 
country. We do not desire to discuss the question of 
the late war at all, but I think that under the cu^cum- 
stances you have nominated a gentleman, a soldier, a 
statesman, and a Democrat against wdiom nothing in the 
world can be said. [Great Applause.] Philip of Mace- 
don, the father of the great Alexander, had his phalanx, 
and when the soldiers of his son were beaten and scat- 
tered, they resorted to the phalanx. We can say of Gen. 
Hancock, he has his phalanx and his soldiers in the 
hearts of the great American people, l^ow, Mr. Chair- 
man, I shall say to this Convention, as I have said to my 
brethren from the State of New York sitting here as dele- 
gates. Let us return home to our own State, let us or- 
ganize our party everywhere in the State, as I know we 
will, and the man who once refers to the story of the 
past, politically, of the State, whoever he may be, let him 



232 Q-E-N, wmriELD s. hajstcock. 

be looked upon as a traitor to the Democratic party. 
[Loud applause.] Mr. Chairman, I thank this Conven- 
tion for the kind reception which you have given me, 
and I have nothing in the world to say against what was 
the action of this Convention in relation to the organiza- 
tion which I in part represent. Let all of that pass 
away. I promise the Convention in my humble way and 
poor services, to do everything in my power this day forth 
until the day of election, to elect the Democratic ticket. 
[Loud applause and three cheers for New York.] And 
now let me repeat to my friends here on the right from 
the State of New York. Let us once and for all take 
each other by the hand and say this in common [loud 
applause], that we have a nobler duty to perform than 
to be fighting each other politically in our own State. 
[Applause.] Let us unite as a band of brothers, let us look 
on each other kindly and favorably, and when we act to- 
gether, united as vv^e must be, let me pledge again to the 
Convention that there can be no question whatever as to 
the result. [Loud applause.] 



COL. fellow's speech. 

Mr. Chairmam and Gentlemen of the Convention ; — I 
am in no form for speech-making. Almost exhausted by 
the labors of this Convention, utterly without voice, I 
needed all the inspiration that the surroundings could 
give me, in order to enable me to respond to your call, 



GEIS". WIISTFIELD S. HAISTCOCK. 233 

and, therefore, I prefer to speak from my seat. I wanted 
to gather mspiration from looking in that direction [in- 
dicating the ladies' gallery] instead of that. [Laughter.] 
I could have made a better speech down there, but you 
have commanded, and I obey. Gentlemen of the United 
States, your action to-day has been superb. [Applause.] 
You liave restored all differences existing in the ranks of 
the Democratic party. You have healed all dissensions. 
We may march under the division banners of different 
generals, but we march to one battle field to fight one 
common foe. [Applause.] Henceforth that man is our 
friend, who best assists in canning that banner to vic- 
tory ; this is our enemy, and only he who lags in his duty 
in that respect. [Applause.] But you have done more, 
aye, infinitely more than to have settled the discords of 
a State; you have strangled by your strong hands to- 
day the giant of discord and strife, wliich has dominated 
our great country. [Applause.] The South and the 
North clasp hands now in no unmeaning ceremony, and 
Hancock shall hear again the roar of the Hampton gun in 
friendly strife. [Loud applause.] All over this land, by 
the success of this ticket, comes the return of fraternal 
concord, of brotherly love of the olden glow. You have 
restored us to a common union. Gentlemen, upon the 
stricken and impoverished States of the South, upon the 
graves where our dead repose, and in the homes where 
the living mourn, there shall fall a benediction, as though 
it was descended direct from God, the benediction of a 
just, perpetual enduring peace. [Applause.] I cannot 



234 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

speak. I only stop to say that New York has but one 
response to make to Democratic nominations. She gives 
Democratic majorities. [Applause.] We shall march 
over that State as though we were sweeping it with a 
tornado, with Hancock at our head. [Applause.] From 
Montauk to Niagara, and everywhere along the route, 
the swelling chorus of Democratic voices, shall make 
music for the entire nation, till we write on our banner 
in November, 50,000 majority in the name of a United 
Democracy as the tribute of the Empire State. [Loud 
applause and cheers.] 



CHAPTEE XXII. 

HANCOCK CONGRATULATED. 

The Head-quarters of the Military Division of 
the Atlantic, on Governor's Island, New York 
Harbor, form the chief command of Gen. Hancock. 
On the morning of June 24th he breakfasted as 
usual, and left his handsome flower-trellised cot- 
tage at the usual hour and strode down to his office. 
There is no evidence to show that his pulse was 
quickened by a beat per minute, even when the 
clatter of a telegraph instrument fell upon his ear. 
The telegraph room is separated from his private 
office by the width of a hall. He went at once to 
his room, but soon afterward reappeared and came 
to this city. This was about lOi o'clock. He re- 
turned on the boat which reached Governor's Isl- 
and about a quarter past twelve, and went imme- 
diately to his office. There the routine business of 
the day was resumed without any variation, so far, 
at least, as the General was concerned. It remains 

235 



236 GEIS-. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

true, however, that when at seven minutes past 12 
a certain dispatch was received, it did not wait 
long on the operator's table for a messenger. 
Capt. John S. Wharton hurried with it to the Gen- 
eral. It was very brief, with no date and no sig- 
nature. It was merely a bulletin sent out by the 
Western Union Telegraph Company from its main 
office in this city. It contained three words : 

"Hancock is nominated." 

The General did not even look at it. Capt. 
Wharton read it to him as he stood in front of the 
General's low desk, and then put it in his pocket. 
Capt. Wharton has it yet. What the General said 
he does not distinctly remember. Hie does not re- 
member that he said anything, for he (the Captain) 
hurried away to announce the good news to " the 
boys in the office," meaning his fellow-officers at 
head-quarters. Yery soon they came hurrying up 
to the General's room. There were present Gen. 
W. G. Mitchell, aid-de-camp, who was with Gen. 
Hancock through most of his battles ; Gen. James 
B. Fry, Assistant Adjutant-General ; Col. Charles 
Bird, Capt. Wharton, Surgeon Janeway, Major J. 
P. Sanger, and Lieut. G. L. S. Ward, aid-de- 
camp. Holding a station in the doorway, though 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 237 

not the last to arrive, was Private John La Ban, 
who has served the General as an orderly since 
1866. A storm of congratulations poured in upon 
G-en. Hancock, who arose from his chair and step- 
ped up beside his desk. 

"I will shake hands with you, gentlemen," he 
said, with an expression of countenance and a 
manner that implied that, however much he might 
desire it, he could do nothing more to express his 
feelings. So far as could be ascertained, these 
were the only words used by the General in his 
first speech of the campaign. Subsequently he re- 
plied to the congratulations of a reporter for the 
N. Y. Sun : ' 

'' I thank you. You cannot expect, of course, 
that I should say anything to you, under the cir- 
cumstances in which I am placed, of public matters. 
What others say about me, however, you are quite 
welcome to have. I have received many congrat- 
ulatory dispatches that it is, perhaps, only right 
should be given for publication. There are many, 
of course, from purely personal friends, that would 
not be interesting to the public, and which it would 
be improper for me to give you. These and all 
other information you will receive from Gen. 



238 GET^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

Mitchell, my old friend, who will also extend to 
you every possible courtesy." 

Gen. Hancock was asked whether his visit to 
New York in the morning was on business in which 
the public would feel an interest. 

'' My visit was quite accidental," was his reply. 
"I have not been off the island before for a week 
or two." 

Subsequently Gen. Hancock was asked by an- 
other person, whether he had not received a num- 
ber of visitors that morning — politicians and other 
prominent men. He said he had not. 

After receiving the congratulations of his fellow- 
officers, Gen. Hancock retired from his head- 
quarters, and it is said that he paid another hasty 
visit to New York. He reappeared about four 
o'clock, and remained until after five o'clock. 
Then he went to his house, where he remained 
during the evening. 

Soon after the news was received on the island, 
the wives of the officers hurried to the General's 
residence, and for an hour or two Mrs. Hancock 
held a levee, at which her husband was present a 
part of the time. 

Gen. Hancock is a picture of health. He is 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 239 

robust, urbane, careful of speech, and of winning 
address. A soldierly mustache, white as snow, 
finds a broad resting-place on his upper lip. His 
hair is yet a light iron-gray. His face is large and 
good. It inspires confidence. His eyes are of a 
light or bluish gray, and set wide apart. His nose, 
slightly Roman, is indicative of strength, and his 
forehead is high, sloping, and marked with firm 
lines at the base, over the bushy brows. The con- 
tour of his eyes and nose give a suggestion of 
executive force to his face. His lips seem firm or 
mobile, according to the mood he is in. His neck 
is large, and his chin is double. His stature and 
his tread make him a commanding person, wher- 
ever he may be. 

Every soldier and every officer on the island, 
who was talked with, could not say enough of the 
General's generosity, his affabilitj^ his modesty, 
and his good sense. 

" You can't be with him without loving him," 
said one of his staff" officers. 

On the island there was nothing in the way of 
parade to distinguish the day from any other 
Thursday. From the windows of the officers' 
houses, however, many flags were displayed. Al- 



240 GEN. WINFIELD S. HAl^COCK. 

SO, a band played on the green ; but the band gives 
a concert every Thursday afternoon on the green. 

The following congratulatory telegrams were 
received by General Hancock : 

Neav York, June 24. 

Gen. Hancock : I cordially congratulate you on 
your nomination. Samuel J. Tilden. 

New York, June 24. 
Gen. Hancock — My Dear Sir : Neither too soon 
nor too heartily can I express my great delight at 
your nomination for the Presidency. The Con- 
vention, in honoring you with its confidence, hon- 
ored itself, and faithfully expressed the wish of the 
great Democratic party. With you for our candi- 
date, I feel that the victory is assured. 

Henry Hilton. 

Cincinnati, June 24. 
Gen. W. S. Hancock : We have just thrown 
you our solid Pennsylvania vote, and congratulate 
you upon your nomination. 

William A. Wallace. 

Cincinnati, June 24. 
Gen. Hancock : You are our nominee. Con- 
o-ratulations. Daniel Dougherty. 



GEN". WINFIELD S. HAIS-COCK. 241 

Cincinnati, June 24. 
GrEN. W. S. Hancock : Hearty congratulations 
to the next President of the United States. 

William Pinckney White. 

EiCHMOND, June 24. 
Gen. Hancock : The nomination makes me 
much gladder than you. Joseph E. Johnston. 

New York, June 24. 
Gen. Hancock : I heartily congratulate you on 
your nomination, and regard your election as cer- 
tain. John J. Cisco. 

Cincinnati, June 24. 
Gen. Hancock : My hearty congratulations. 
New Jersey solid, and will stand by you as their 
sires did by Eevolutionary patriots. 

Theodore F. Randolph. 

New York, June 24. 
Gen. W. S. Hancock : I congratulate you. 

John Bigelow. 

Wilmington, Del. 
Gen. Hancock : Your nomination is honorable 
alike to you and the Democratic party. No one 

16 



242 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

congratulates 3^ou more sincerely, and no one will 
strive more heartily to elect you than I. 

T. F. Bayard. 

Cincinnati, June 24. 
Gen. W. S. Hancock : We congratulate you on 
your nomination. New York is sure for your 
election. John Kelly, 

Augustus Schell. 

New Orleans, June 24. 

Gen. Hancock : Your nomination creates great 

enthusiasm. The Democracy of Louisiana send 

most cordial greetings. J. B. Eustis, 

President State Central Committee. 

Plymouth, N. H. 

Gen. W. S. Hancock : I suppose a Republican 
friend may be permitted to congratulate you. 

Timothy Davis. 

Harrisburg, Pa., June 24. 
Gen. Hancock: Praise God, from whom all 
blessings flow. Dr. Hayes. 

Trenton, N. J., June 24. 
Gen. Hancock : Allow me to congratulate you. 
Second Corps ahead, as usual. Gershom Mott. 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 243 

[Note. — Gen. Mott was one of Gen. Hancock's 
old division commanders.] 

Cincinnati, June 24. 
Gen. W. S. Hancock : Enthusiasm over your 
nomination intense. Randall, of Pennsylvania, 
just spoke. Yote unanimous. Nothing could have 
prevented the nomination. 

Duncan S. Walker, 
Secretary of the Democratic National Committee. 

West Point, June 24. 
Gen. Hancock : Please accept my most hearty 
congratulations. J. M. Schofield. 

Columbus, 0., June 24. 
Gen. Hancock : Accept my sincere congratula- 
tions on your nomination. That you will be elect- 
ed I have no doubt. A. G. Thurman. 

Cleveland, 0., June 24. 
Major-Gen. Hancock : I beg to tender you my 
sincere congratulations on your nomination. 

H. B. Payne. 

Houston, Texas, June 24. 
Gen. Hancock : Hurrah ! Congratulations from 
Texas and Ord (Gen. E. 0. C. Ord). 



244 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

New York, June 24. 
G-EN. Hancock : Allow me to offer my cordial 
congratulations and confident predictions of your 
triumph in November. Noryin Green. 

New York, June 24. 
Gen. W. S. Hancock : Your nomination con- 
solidates the friends of good government, and your 
election is assured. Demarest Barnes. 

Cincinnati, June 24. 
Gen. Hancock : With all my soul I congratu- 
late the republic rather than yourself upon your 
nomination. E. John Ellis. 

Reading, Pa., June 24. 
Gen. Hancock : The hills of Berks reverberate 
with 100 guns in honor of your victory. Thanks 
to God for the triumph of the people in November 
assured. S. E. Ancona. 

Columbus, Miss. 
Gen. Hancock ; Mississippi is faithful to you, 
and will do her whole dut}^ 

Beverly Matthews. 

Cincinnati, June 24. 
Gen. Hancock : Buell tells me that Murat Hal- 



GEN. WmriELD S. HANCOCK. 245 

stead says Hancock's nomination by Confederate 
Brigadiers sets the old rebel yell to the music of 
the Union. How is that for keynote of campaign? 
It will be solemn music for Eepublicans to face. 

William A. Wallace. 

Cincinnati, June 24. 
Gen. Hancock : I sincerely congratulate you 
and greet you as our next President. 

Eppa Hunton. 

Cincinnati, June 24. 
Gen. Hancock : With all my heart I congratu- 
late you. I had expected this result for the last 
twelve years. You will be elected. 

D. W. YOGRHEES. 

Cincinnati, June 24. 
Gen. Hancock: Please accept my heartiest 
congratulations. Ohio is already booming for you. 

Milton Sayler. 

Milwaukee, June 24. 
Gen. Hancock : Allow me to offer you my sin- 
cere congratulations. I may equally congratulate 
the party and the country on the good fortune 
which led the Convention to the selection it has 



246 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

made, and on the excellent prospect of the ratifica- 
tion of its choice by the American people. 

Alexander Mitchell. 

THE PLATFORM. 

The Democrats of the United States in Convention as- 
sembled declare : 

First — "We pledge ourselves anew to the constitutional 
doctrines and traditions of the Democratic party as illus- 
trated by the teaching and example of a long line of 
Democratic statesmen and patriots, and embodied in the 
platform of the last National Convention of the party. 

Second — Opposition to centralizationism, and to that 
dangerous spirit of encroachment which tends to con- 
solidate the powers of all the departments in one, and 
thus to create, whatever be the form of government, a 
real despotism. No sumptuary laws; separation of 
Church and State for the good of each ; common schools 
fostered and protected. 

Third — Home rule, honest money, consisting of gold 
and silver and paper, convertible to coin on demand. 
The strict maintenance of the public faith, State and 
national, and a tariff for revenue only. 

Fourth — The subordination of the military to the civil 
power, and a general and thorough reform of the civil 
service. 

Fifth— The right to a free ballot is the right preserva- 
tive of all rights, and must and shall be maintained in 
every part of the United States. 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 247 

Sixth— The existing Administration is the representa- 
tive of conspiracy only, and its claim of right to surround 
the ballot-boxes with troops and deputy marshals to in- 
timidate and obstruct the electors, and the unprecedented 
use of the veto to maintain its corrupt and despotic 
power, insults the people and imperils their institutions. 

Seventh— The great fi'aud of 1876-7, by which, upon 
a false count of the electoral votes of two States, the 
candidate defeated at the polls was declared to be Pres- 
ident, and for the first time in American history the will 
of the people was set aside under a threat of mihtary 
violence, struck a deadly blow at our system of represent- 
ative government. The Democratic party, to preserve 
the country from the horrors of a civil war, submitted 
for the time, in firm and patriotic faith that the people 
would punish this crime in 1880. This issue precedes 
and dwarfs every other. It imposes a more sacred duty 
upon the people of the Union than ever addressed the 
conscience of a nation of freemen. 

Eighth — We execrate the course of this Administra- 
tion in making places in the civil service a reward for 
political crime, and demand a reform by statute which 
shall make it forever impossible for the defeated candi- 
date to bribe his way to the seat of a usurper by billet- 
ing villains upon the people. 

Ninth— The resolution of Samuel J. Tilden not again 
to be a candidate for the exalted place to which he was 
elected by a majority of his countrymen, and from which 
he was excluded by the leaders of the Republican party. 



248 GE^. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

is received by the Democrats of the United States with 
sensibility, and they declare their confidence in' his wis- 
dom, patriotism, and integrity, unshaken by the assault 
of a common enemy ; and they further assure him that 
he is followed in the retirement he has chosen for him- 
self by the sympathy and respect of his fellow-citizens, 
who regard him as one who, by elevating the standards 
of public morality, and adorning and purifying the pubUc 
service, merits the lasting gratitude of his country and 
his party. 

Tenth — Free ships and a living chance for American 
commerce on the seas and on the land. No discrimina- 
tion in favor of transportation hues, corporations, or 
monopolies. 

Eleventh — Amendment of the Burlingame treaty. No 
more Chinese immigration except for travel, education, 
and foreign commerce, and therein carefully guarded. 

Twelfth — PubHc money and public credit for public 
purposes solely, and public land for actual settlers. 

Thirteenth — The Democratic party is the friend of 
labor and the laboring man, and pledges itself to protect 
him alike against the cormorants and the commune. 

Fourteenth — We congratulate the country upon the 
honesty and thrift of a Democratic Congi'ess which has 
reduced the public expenditure $40,000,000 a year ; upon 
the continuation of prosperity at home and the national 
honor abroad, and above all, upon the promise of such 
a change in the administration of the Government as 
shall insure us genuine and lasting reform in every de- 
partment of the public service. 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 349 



THE NEW NATIONAL COMMITTEE. 



Alabama — Levi W. Lawler. 
Arkansas — John J. Sumpter. 
California — James T. Farley. 
Colorado — T. M. Patterson. 
Connecticut — Wm. H. Barnum. 
Delaware — Ignatius C. Grubb. 
Florida — Samuel Pasco. 
Georgia — George F. Barnes. 
Illinois — "Wm. C. Goudy. 
Indiana — Austin H. Brown. 
Iowa— M. M. Ham. 
Kansas — Chas. W. Blair. 
Kentucky — Henry D. McKenry. 
Louisiana — B. F. Jones. 
Maine — Edmund Wilson. 
Maryland — Outerbridge Hersey. 
Massacliusetts — Frederick O. Prince. 
Michigan — Edward Kanter. 
Minnesota— P. H. Kelly. 
Mississippi— Gen. W. T. Martin. /^ 
Missouri — John G. ^rather. (J 

Nebraska— J. Sterling Morton. 
Nevada — J. C. Hagerman. 
New Hampshire— Alvah N. Sulloway. 
New York — Abram S. Hewitt. 
North Carolina— M. W. Kansom. 



250 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

Ohio — (Not named.) 
Oregon — (Kot named.) 
Pennsylvania — (Not named.) 
Ehode Island — Abner J. Barnaby. 
South Carolina — F. W. Dawson. 
Tennessee — Thomas O'Connor. 
Texas— F. S. Stockdale. 
Vermont — Bradley B. Sm alley. 
Virginia — Kobert A. Coghill. 
Wisconsin — Wm. F. Vilas. 
West Virginia — Alexander Campbell. 



CHAPTER XXIII 

HANCOCK AS A TACTICIAN. 

The following letter has been sent to the author 
by a distinguished military tactician, who was a 
Confederate General during the Rebellion, and who 
has recently conducted a military expedition to 
Central Africa, to annex the equatorial provinces 
to the dominion of the Khedive. Before the war 
Gen. Colston was instructor in tactics in the mili- 
tary institute of which Stonewall Jackson was 
president. 

New York, July 28, 1880. 
Dear Sir : 

I was very glad to learn from you that your 
biography of Gen. Hancock will very soon appear, 
and I hope it will have a wide circulation all over 
the land and meet with complete success. 

Looking at Gen. Hancock's military career, I 
think he ranks among the very highest in the pro- 
fession of arms. I cannot, within these limits, 

351 



g52 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

discuss this proposition at length, and I present 
onl}^ one consideration. 

Wellington's fame rests chiefly upon the victor}^ 
of Waterloo, and that victory was due to his se- 
lection of the defensive position of Mont St. Jean. 
He was strongly urged to retreat through the 
forest of Soignies and give battle nearer to Brus- 
sels. ' It may be idle (in one sense) to discuss 
events which might have taken place, but never 
did ; yet it is such discussions which enable us to 
form correct judgments both of the past and pres- 
ent. If Wellington's military eje had not dis- 
cerned the advantages of the position he chose, 
the battle would have been fought at some other 
point probably less advantageous, and with prob- 
ably different results. 

Every one familiar with military history has re- 
marked the many points of resemblance between 
Waterloo and Gettj^sburg. Now, it is well known 
that Meade was strongly inclined and urged to re- 
treat from the environs of Gettysburg, with the 
purpose of giving battle elsewhere. Lee, con- 
ducting a campaign of invasion, was compelled to 
fight an offensive battle. He could not retreat be- 
fore an intact and superior army. He must at- 



GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 253 

tack it wherever it made a stand. To Hancock's 
eternal renown as a General, it is acknowledged 
that he being charged with selecting a battle- 
ground, chose the positions at Gettysburg which 
assured to the Union Army the most decisive vic- 
tory of the war, because it was the turning point 
of the Confederate fortunes and the last chance of 
success for their cause. Every one remembers 
what a desperate battle it was, and how probably 
the result would have differed but for the advan- 
tages of position secured by Hancock's judgment. 
Had Meade retreated and foudit the battle in 
some less favorable position (he could not have 
formed one more so) it might have changed the his- 
tory of our times. The judgment and military 
talent thus exhibited by Hancock were equaled 
only by his magnificent personal valor when riding 
along the whole front of his line under the fire of 
150 Confederate guns in order to inspire confi- 
dence and keep his troops steady under that tre- 
mendous fire. Such an example of military skill 
and heroic bravery is unsurpassed in military his- 
tory. 

The soldiers of the Southern armies always re- 
spected and admired Hancock during the war, 



254 GEN. WINFIELD S. HANCOCK. 

because of his skill, bravery, and chivalrous bear- 
ing. If any cannot understand this feeling it is 
because they never experienced 



the stern joy that warriors feel 
To meet foemen worthy of their steel. 



This sentiment was heightened into gratitude 
and affection when he refused to trample upon the 
fallen, and proclaimed his respect for the laws, 
which might be silent during the clash of arms, but 
which were the right and inheritance even of the 
conquered. Let us hope that his triumphant elec- 
tion will seal the eternal reconciliation of the 
whole country, and confirm a perpetual Union in 
truth as well as in name. 

With best wishes for the success of your work, 
I remain, 

Very sincerely yours, 

E. E. Colston. 



CHAPTER XXIV. 

Biographies, limited as to length, and designed 
for special occasions, like a Presidential Cam- 
paign, must in their nature be very imperfect nar- 
ratives of the life of the subject-hero. Yet in this 
volume I have presented a considerable quantity 
of material froni various pens — much of it en hloc^ 
and without comment — in the hope of producing 
a polyglot biography that should make conspicu- 
ous the salient points of Gen. Hancock's charac- 
ter, and the prominent events in which this chief 
actor was the master spirit. 

These pages teach us that no citizen, since our 
Federal Government was formed, has united rarer 
qualities for the administration of civil or military 
power. 

He began life with an honorable lineage to stim- 
ulate him by woi'thy example. 

His academic days were those of golden 
promise. 

255 



256 GEN. WINFIELD S. HAT^COCK. 

His private life lias been a story of tenderness 
and devotion. 

He is the foremost of American gentlemen in 
the highest sense of that term — of magnetic and 
commanding presence, of dauntless courage, of at- 
tentive courtesy, of winning and not perfunctory 
dignity — unconscious of himself. 

It will be no new experience nor sudden ele- 
vation should he be named in November as the 
head of the Nation. 

It will be the rounding off of a career in which 
his political adversaries see nothiug but credit, 
glory, and honor. 

It will be his country ^s recognition that he be- 
longs to the few great liberal leaders of recent 
times — to the Round Table of positive statesmen, 
who determine, fashion, and crystalize events 
which, as Time rolls on, become great and historic 
• — to the circle of Gladstone, Thiers, Castelar, 
Gambetta, and John Bright. 



THE END. 



'' To knoiD well the local and natural man; to 
track the silent march of human affairs ; to seize 
lolth happy intuition on those great laws ichich 
regulate tfie prosperity of empires ; to reconcile | 

principles to circumstances^ and he no wiser than 
the times will permit^ is a taslz which they will \ 

fear most who know it hest.^^ 



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